JULY — In(ter)dependence Day: Lives mattering, freedom with responsibility, and social well-being

Abstract

Taking the American Declaration of Independence as its starting point, this article critiques the Declaration's individualistic framing of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” It offers an alternative view that emphasises the collective life in which all lives matter, freedom with responsibility, and social well-being, each and all of which both draw on and further the concept of interdependence. Drawing on organismic psychology, Carl Rogers's ideas about the freedom to learn, and Corey Keyes's research on social actualisation, the article argues that, in contrast to independence, and other concepts such as ego, the self/Self, and individuation, the concept, practice, and aspiration of interdependence is more consistent not only with psychotherapeutic knowledge about being human and about human development, but also with psycho-political perspectives that favour more connected and just societies.