Development as a Multi-Systemic Endeavor: Personal and Professional Reflections on S. J. Blatt’s Philosophy of Development

We offer personal (life-story based) and professional (theoretical, empirical) reflections on Sidney J. Blatt’s philosophy of human development. By philosophy, we mean the very metaphysical assumptions about human nature and its development throughout the life span, which guided Blatt’s seminal contribution to the areas of psychoanalysis, developmental psychology and psychopathology. Of the various assumptions we discuss, we title the most central one is “multi-systemic development.” Namely, Blatt’s thinking was adamantly broad, as he strongly believed that to understand the developing mind, one has to put together all components of the person’s upbringing, personality, and life circumstances. Such holistic thinking enabled Blatt to make connections between seemingly unrelated areas of scholarship, and–in turn–to arrive at, arguably, the most comprehensive theory of psychological development in academic psychology.