References French Communist Party and directed the party's pub-

Duckworth,A. 1., Steen,T, A., & Seligman,

M. E. P.(2005).Positive lishiI}g house from 1970 to 1982. Seve's theoretical
psychologyin clinical practice.Annual Reviewsin Clinical psychology
Psychology,
1, 6~9-651.
Peterson,
C" & Seligman,
M. E. P. (2004).Character
strengths
and
, , , "
vIrtues: A handbook and classification. Oxford: Oxford
Press.
Seligman,M, E.P.(1991).Learnedoptimism,NewYork:Knopf,
Seligman,M. E.P.(2002).Authentichappiness: Usingthenewpositive
psychologyto realizeyour potential for lasting fu!fi//ment,
NewYork:FreePress,
Seligman,M. E. P.,& Csikszentrnihalyi,
M, (2000).Positivepsychol-
ogy:anm. tr0ducti.on.Amencan
' Psych0Iogts 5 14
' t, 55(1) ,-.
Seligman,M. E. P., Rashid,T., & Parks,A. C. (2006).Positive
psychotherapy. AmericanPsychologist,61,774-788.
Seligman,M. E. P.,Reivich,K., Jaycox,
1., & Gillham,J.(1996),The
optimisticchild.NewYork:Harper,Paperbacks,
I - - - - scholars turn to Marx and not to Freud, Pavlov,
SeVe, Lucien
MOHAMED ELHAMMOUMI
Collegeof Social Sciences,AI-Imam Muhammad Ibn
SaudUniversity, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Basic Biographicallnformationl
Major Accomplishments
Lucien Seveis a French Marxist philosopher and psy-
chologist who played a major role in the processof
developing a Marxist theory of human individuality.
His magnum opus Man in Marxist theory and the
psychologyof personality (translated into more than
25 languages)has been a major contribution to the
project of Marxist psychology.It significantly enriched
the discussion when it appeared four decadesago.
It was a truly innovative departure from different
versionsof WestEuropeanMarxism (Frankfurt school,
different trends of Marxist structuralism, Marxist
humanism, existentialism, etc.), showing how Marx's
psychologicalideasmight enhanceour understanding
of human mental life and human nature. Sevecon-
cluded that we are in need of a Marxian scientific
psychology.Sevehas engagedin polemical exchange References
with Louis AIthusser, Adam Schaff, Roger Garaudy, Seve,.' 1 (1954) L S .
. a clence. am ery, ¥on: es I Ionsscoalres.
Maurice Godelier as well as with the tenet of Marxist
humanism. He servedon the Central Committee of the
is groundedwithin Marx'sideasdeveloped
in Die Grundrisseand Vas Kapital as well as German
Td I .H .. I f Mams. t structur al
.L eoogy. e was very cntlca 0
UniversIty
psychologists, Marxist hermeneutics, Marxist phenom-
enologists, Marxist existentialists, Marxist humanists,
and Freudo-Marxism. It is difficult within this space to
assessthe magnitude of Seve'stheoretical research par-
adigm. I was exposed to Seve's ideas since 1975 when
. .
'I was a unIversity student. I earned an enormous
amount of knowledge from his writings; it shaped my
theoretical framework. It is through Seve'swritings that
I discovered Marxist psychology, Polizer's concrete psy-
chology,Wallon'sdialecticalmaterialistpsychology,
Leontiev'sactivity theory, and VygotSky'Scultural his-
torical psychology. In Seve'swork, I discovered the
answer to why the excellent minds and 'respected
William James, Skinner, or Lewin, when they deal
with the structures, functions, and formations of psy-
chological processes.Sevewas credited with complet-
ing historical materialism by a Marxist theory of
human individuality. His theory of personality was
conceivedimplicitly and explicitly asa counter project
to AIthusser'sreading of Marx and Freud'spsychoanal-
~is aswell asto the whole project of different trends of
structuralism. Sevestatedthat, "it is true to saythat the
theoretical-anti-humanist interpretation certainly does
not, asit claims,finally provide a strict readingof Marx,
which goes beyond Marx himself, but is in fact
a contamination of Marxism with alien approaches"
( I.972, p. 80). In 1980, he fulfilled Marx's project of
Treatiseof dialecticsby the publication of his Principia
dialecticawritten within Marx's theoretical framework.
For unknown reasons,Sevehas never been affiliated
with any Frenchacademicinstitutions. He still is a very
active scholar in publications as well as in the assess-
ment of communism in theory and practice. Sincethe
fall of the Berlin wall, Sevehaspublished a dozenbooks
on what went wrong with the state Communist
experiment.
Ch b ' L 1 E' d t I ' ' '
Seve,L (1969).Marxismeet theoriede/apersonalite.
Paris:Editions
sociales, '

~~ '

I Robert W. Rieber, Encyclopedia of the History of Psychological Theories, DOl 10.1007/978-1-4419-0463-8,

@ SpringerScience+Business
Media,LLC 2012
-
If
 Shakow, '.David 989

Seve,
L. (1972).MalXisme
et theoriedela personalite
(2nded.).Paris: House, a settlement in NYC for new immigrants. It was
, F-ditionssociales.. , . ., . there that he encountered the ideas of Freud and Jung.
Seve,L.(1974a).MalXlsmeettheonedelapersonahte(3rded.).Pans: H Id al h ks fWill .
' ..
Ed .al e wou so soon encounter t e wor 0 lam
ltions SOCl es.
Seve,
L. (1974b). Textes surla methode dela scienceeconomjque.Paris: James, w~om he considered his "lifelong hero," and to
F-ditions sociales. whom he attributed his abiding interest in psychopa-
Seve,L. (1975)..MalXismand the theoryof humanpersonality. thology (Cautin 2006),
London:Lawrence & Wishart, Shakow wanted to study where James had taught,
Seve,L. (1978), Man in MalXist theory and the psychologyof person- ft fti t t d . t gl h .
so a er some e or 0 lsen an e lmseIf fr om th e
ality.Hassocks: HarvesterPress. 1:' . .
S' L (1980) Tl . t d t. ' I ph l ph . '. S . ' d '.
' lamil y busIness, he entered Harvard m 1921. T here he
eve, . ,vnem ro uc Iona a 10SOlemalXls.e:ulvle un
vocabulaire philosophique.Paris:Editionssociales. benefited from significant mentorships with William
Seve,
L. (1984).Structuralisme etdialectique.
Paris:Messidor/Editions McDougall, E. G. Boring, and Frederick Wells, inter alia
sociales, and from various field experiences at McLean Hospital
Seve,L. (1994),Pourunecritiquedela raisonbioethique. Paris:Odille and Boston Psychopathic Hospital, institutions central
S' JaLco(b. 998) S . d . I . d I P , L D . to the history of American clinical psychology. He later

eve, . 1 . clences et la ecnques e a nature. ans: a lspute, .. . . . ".

Seve,L. (1999). Commencer par les fins: La nouvellequestion characterIzed hIS early traInIng as beIng of a do-rt-
communiste. Paris:la Dispute. yourself" character, and this idea would inform his
Seve,L. (2001).Sciences de/'hommeet dela societe:
La responsabilite later contributions to the professionalization of clinical
desscientifiques.
Paris:l'Harrnattan. psychology (Cautin 2006).
S~ve,
L. (2004a).MalXet nous.Paris:l.aDis,pu~e.., In 1924, immediately upon graduating from
Seve, L. (2004b), Penser avec Marx auJourd hut, Pans: la Dlspute. d Shak ow worKe1- d fior 15 mon th s as a Psvc h0 1Og-
, L. (2005).Emergence,
Seve, ' complexlte, , et dlalecnque:
,. ,Harvar
Surlessystemes' f
dynamiques non lineaires. Paris: Odille Jacob. ical assistant under the supervision of Grace Helen Kent
Seve,
L. (2006).Qu'est-ce quela personne humaine? Paris:LaDispute. at Worcester State Hospital (WSH). The following year
Seve,L. (2008).L'homme? Paris:la Dispute. he began graduate studies in psychology at Harvard, and
Seve,
L.,& Clem~nt,C. (~97;).,~ourune.critique malXistedela theorie met Sophie Harap, whom he married in June 1926. In
, psychanalynque. Pans: Edltions soaales.. . ' M ..
1927 Shakow earne d h 15 A Th e fi0 11oWIng
. year, h ow-
Seve,L., & allman, B. (Eds,).(2008).DIalectIcs for thenewcentury. ,., . .
Basingstoke, NewYork:Palgrave Macmillan. ever, Shakow s dIssertatIon research on sublimInal per-
ception, under the supervision of E. G. Boring, had
produced equivocal findings. As he was soon to be in
the position of supporting a young family, Shakow
I - - - - - delayed completion of his dissertation and left Harvard
~
Shakow, David. to acceptan appointmentas Chief Psychologist
and
Directorof Psychological
Rese,arch
at WSH.Therehe
ROBINL. CAUT1N directed a grou!! of researchets who were part of an ..
Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY, USA interdisciplinary team dedicated to understanding the ..
nature of schizophrenia. He would ultimately return to
Harvard in 1942 to defend a refocused dissertation, The
Basic Biographical Information Nature of Deterioration in Schizophrenic Conditions
David Shakow was born on January 2, 1901 to (1946), which was based on this work.
Abraham Chaikowitz (aka Shakow) and Eva Leventhal, In 1946, Shakow left WSH to become professor of
Russian immigrants who had recently settled on psychiatry at University of Illinois College of Medicine;
Manhattan's Lower East Side (A. Shakow, personal 2 years later he accepted an additional professorial
communication, July 21,2009). Although raised in an appointment in the University of Chicago's Depart-
Orthodox Jewish household, as a teenager Shakow ment of Psychology. During the next 8 years, Shakow
abandoned the traditional customs of Judaism. He was deeply involved in teaching, training, and educa-
attended the High School of Commerce in preparation tional policy, curricular development, and served as
for a business career, but his vocational interests would a consultant for various branches of the federal gov-
change, owing in part to his participation at Madison ernment (Cautin 2006,2008).

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