Jan Hendrik van den Berg

Biography

Jan Hendrik van den Berg (Deventer, June 11, 1914 – Gorinchem, September 22, 2012) was a Dutch physician-psychiatrist, professor of pastoral psychology, and professor of the phenomenological method and conflict psychology. He became known for his 'doctrine of changes', which he called metabletics, a doctrine described in a readable and controversial oeuvre. Its core is that simultaneously occurring, dissimilar phenomena, viewed in conjunction, can shed light on human existence and history. Van den Berg was also a cultural critic. He is one of the most translated authors in the Dutch-speaking world.