<p>According to Sigmund Freud, man is born with an innate tendency to destruction and violence; in The Insanity of Normality, the psychoanalyst Arno Gruen challenges that assumption, arguing instead that at the root of evil lies self-hatred, a rage originating in a self-betrayal that begins in childhood, when autonomy is surrendered in exchange for the "love" of those who wield power over us.<br>To share in that subjugating power, we create a false self, an image of ourselves that springs from a powerful and deep-seated sense of fear. Gruen traces this pattern of adaptation and smoldering rebellion through a number of case studies, sociological phenomena--from Nazism to Reaganomics--and literary worlds. The insanity this attitude produces, unfortunately, goes widely unrecognized precisely because it has become the "realism" that modern society inculcates into its members.<br>Gruen warns, however, that escape from this pattern lies not simply in rebellion, for the rebel remains emotionally tied to the object of his rebellion, but in the development of a personal autonomy. His elegant and far-reaching conclusion is that while autonomy is not easily attained, its absence proves catastrophic to both individual and society.</p>

The Insanity of Normality: Realism As Sickness : Toward Understanding Human Destructiveness

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Gruen, Arno

Hannum, Hildegarde

Hannum, Hunter

Psychology & Counseling

Grove Weidenfeld

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hannum, Hildegarde. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hannum, Hildegarde

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hannum, Hildegarde. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Insanity of Normality: Realism As Sickness : Toward Understanding Human Destructiveness