Even though studies of conation were trailing off heading into the mid-20th century, they were not completely forgotten. Erich Fromm in his work on "Human Ethics" discussed the conative nature of man by saying the way man achieves virtue is through the active use he makes of his powers.
"Uncertainty (the cognitive) is the very condition to impel a man to unfold his power. If he faces the truth without panic, he will recognize that there is no meaning to life except the meaning man gives his life by unfolding his powers, by living productively; and that only constant vigilance, activity and effort can keep us from failure in the one task that matters—the full development of our powers without the limitations set by the laws of our existence ... to be himself and for himself to achieve happiness by the full realization of those faculties which are peculiarly his—of reason, love and productive work."[8]
Fromm's "productive orientation" was "a fundamental attitude, a mode of relatedness in all realms of human experience. It covers mental, emotional and sensory responses to others, to oneself and to things. Productiveness is man's ability to use his powers and to realize the potentialities inherent in him ... he must be free and not dependent on someone who controls his powers ... he can make use of his powers only if he knows what they are, how to use them and what to use them for ... they [must not be] masked and alienated from him."[8]
That man's conation, productivity, character or mode of doing comes in modes that are both instinctive and distinctive has also been a prevalent thought among philosophers and psychologists. Michael Malone in his book "Psychetypes" said,
"One of the ways a person can become neurotic (that is, unable to realize his own potentialities) is by failing to develop his natural typology. Furthermore, it is difficult for people to develop happily when their natural typology is not recognized or respected by others. By providing a language for experience, a theory of psychetypes enables us to communicate across our typological worlds and thereby come to understand and accept the validity of our differences."[8]
In "Endeavors in Psychology," Henry Murray uses conation to denote each persistent effort (intention, volition, act of willing) to attain a specific goal, saying:
"Conations are perhaps a long integrated series, deriving their force from one or more needs ... the general motivating factor is need—tension—but the chief integrating factor is the conation which directs the organization of muscular and verbal patterns toward the attainment of a definable effect, or subeffect."[9]
Murray goes on to say, "the personality is almost continuously involved in deciding between alternative or conflicting or tendencies or elements ... the most pressing and demanding are conflicts between different conations. Since conations (purposes) derive their energies from needs ... or alternative goal-objects, conations are specific in respect to goal-place or goal-object."[9]
In the late 1940s, Raymond Cattell attempted to explain conational modalities in a complex set he called the "dynamic lattice." What McDougall had called instinct or propensity, Cattell termed an "erg." An erg, Cattell said, was an innate psychological/physical disposition, or inborn disposition, which permits its possessor to acquire reactivity to certain classes of objects more readily than others, to experience a specific emotion in regard to them and to set on a course of action which ceases more completely at a certain specific goal activity. His dynamic lattice analyzes the interconnections among ergs (conative) and sentiments (affective) to show purposive sequences.[10]
His philosophy of dynamic psychology stressed the importance of motivation or fundamental energy in psychic life. Only by looking at man in dynamic rather than static conditions did he feel conation could play its appropriate role.
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