ABSTRACT
Abraham Maslow in his discussion on the hierarchy of needs put self-actualisation as one of the higher aspirations of humankind. Self-actualisation is realising the potential within, or bringing that potential into reality. For anyone who has experienced it, self-actualisation is a wonderful experience in and of itself, but incidental to self-actualisation is the mental good called ‘sense of achievement’. When people take self-actualisation to be an end in itself, the aspiration is ‘higher’ on the needs hierarchy, in the sense that, while it is not seen to be as basic as survival, the degree of satisfaction achieved can be very great. Still, while some people seek selfactualisation as a natural yearning, others may seek achievement in order to win acceptance or recognition by others. For them the sense of achievement or dignity is built on recognition by others. Some people would call this ‘vanity’, but the presumed value judgement is not warranted. ‘Vanity’ carries the connotation that such pursuit is morally wrong. But there is nothing wrong with desiring mental goods, since such desires are universal. What is more pertinent is that self-actualisation is generally more reliable and more effective as a source of happiness than vanity.
