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Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology
Routledge is now re-issuing this prestigious series of 204 volumes originally published between 1910 and 1965. The titles include works by key figures such asC.G. Jung, Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, Otto Rank, James Hillman, Erich Fromm, Karen Horney and Susan Isaacs. Each volume is available on its own, as part of a themed mini-set, or as part of a specially-priced 204-volume set. A brochure listing each title in the International Library of Psychology series is available upon request.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1920
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4524 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Adler
391 books897 followersAustrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler rejected emphasis of Sigmund Freud on sexuality; his theories that personality arises in subconscious efforts and that from overcompensation for perceived inferiority results neurotic behavior and psychological illness base an Adlerian psychological school.
People recognize emphasis of this medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of individual on the importance of the complex as isolating an element, which plays a key role in development.
This Viennese of the best-known in the western world held a chair in the United States of America. His special merit made clear the interaction between external influences and internal dispositions. He therefore pioneered a holistic approach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_...
People recognize emphasis of this medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of individual on the importance of the complex as isolating an element, which plays a key role in development.
This Viennese of the best-known in the western world held a chair in the United States of America. His special merit made clear the interaction between external influences and internal dispositions. He therefore pioneered a holistic approach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_...
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October 7, 2016
Definitely one of the best books I've ever read. Though I studied philosophy at the university, I've always been a really avid reader of psychology. I'd known about Alfred Adler for a while, as one of the Big Three founders of psychoanalysis (along with Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung) but I'd never realized the depth and profundity of his thought.
Here's my summary of Alfred Adler's thought (which is the content of the book): For Adler, "to exist is to feel inferior." What he means by this is that, from the moment the human being is able to compare himself to others, he is conscious of his relative feebleness and weakness in the face of massive grownups. An upshot of the huge human brain is our ability to compare our own endowments and abilities with those of others, and this ability develops very early. In this way, we all learn to be insecure (to at least some degree).
We attempt to compensate for these feelings of inferiority by striving for superiority, in his language. This is rooted in Adler's appropriation of Nietzsche's concept of the will to power. Contrary, to the Darwinians of his day, Nietzsche maintained that evolution is driven, mostly fundamentally, by a kind of upward striving force known as will to power, rather than merely to survival. Instead, survival is merely an instance of a more fundamental will to power.
This will to power in humans seeks, above all, to alleviate inferiority feelings. Adler distinguishes between socially useful and socially useless forms of compensating for these feelings. Socially useless forms involve compensating for feelings of inferiority by harming others in order to make oneself feel more powerful. The remedy for mental illness, for Adler, involves adopting socially useful styles of life, which involve serving others and being a part of something larger than oneself.
When the individual's will to power goes astray, it can manifest itself in symptoms of what Adler calls neurosis (an obsolete and horrible word). Unlike Freud, however, Adler believed that neurosis is caused by socially useless attempts to compensate for inferiority feelings. An example of something like this might involve someone wanting to become a dictator so he can dominate other people, with this desire being rooted in a deep rooted sense of inferiority because he was abused by his father. Instead, the individual should compensate by using as a standard one's usefulness in contributing to the welfare in others. Adler acknowledges that one's psychological system is necessarily going to be an expression of their life-philosophy, and he is quite open about his presuppositions in this respect.
In biology, compensation is understood as an increase in activity or size of a specific part of either an organ or organism which makes up for dysfunction or loss of another. A woman feels unattractive because of what she thinks is a big nose and so she may obsessively engage in accentuating other parts of her body in order to draw attention away from the supposedly malformed organ, and toward something which will give her feelings of superiority and alleviate painful feelings of inferiority.
Whether physiological or psychical or both, life proceeds by way of compensation, one chemical increasing or decreasing to make up for an increase or decrease elsewhere, metabolism slowing down during starvation to compensate for low amounts of food intake and a need to conserve calories. On all levels of granularity, the entire organism is complicit in ensuring that the relevant differentials are such as to maintain the stability, homeostasis or equilibrium of a open, emergent system.
For Adler, the goal is not to not compensate, since compensation is an essential component of what maintains the stability of equilibria, but rather, to compensate well. As open, emergent systems dependent upon a robust but delicate equilibrium, continually deluged with one shock after another, compensation is a regular fact of life. So compensation doesn't have a negative connotation at all in Adler's system. It's how emergent systems like us are even able to function. This is true, he argued, on both a physiological and psychological level (indeed, his early work had much more to do with feelings of inferiority resulting from faulty organs, whereas he reversed the order in his later work).
Compensating well, for Adler, involves cultivating what he refers to as "social feeling" or "social interest," and involves taking one's focus off of one's own inferiority and instead throwing oneself into contributing to the welfare of others. Adler himself was a Social Democrat and his political interests long preceded his career as a psychoanalyst, but he later abandoned these views, and the notion that humans are social creatures and require interpersonally meaningful relationships to maintain mental health is hardly a distinctly Marxist insight.
Indeed, Adler's psychology is essentially a social psychology. The human person develops in continual interaction with other individuals. Increasing feelings of superiority and decreasing feelings of inferiority are centered around how we believe we are perceived by other people. Compensating for these feelings by
As much as I love Adler, I've never really liked his writing style. On the one hand, I definitely appreciate his insistence on the importance of communicating ideas clearly so that the individual of ordinary intelligence can understand his teachings. (really more of an Anglo-American virtue than a Germanic one). I'm the other hand, he is oftentimes so terse that his message ends up kind of vague, and certainly inelegant. I'd also really like to see his ideas articulated within a more rigorously systematic framework. Whether this is necessarily a fault of the translation or of his own style, I'm not sure. Be that as it may, it is really not enough to warrant the omission of a star.
Though Adler appreciated the inferiority complex like no one before him (except perhaps Nietzsche and Dostoevsky -- the only psychologist, according to Nietzche's testimony, from whom he had ever learned anything) he could be really crassly reductionistic in a way not dissimilar to Freud, to the point of being almost archaic. That is, he considers basically all forms of mental illness to be the result of lack of social feeling or social interest, and "socially useless" attempts at attempting to compensate for inferiority feelings. This is true, he thought, for schizophrenia, for example, which is obviously absurd. Schizophrenia is now known to be highly (though not entirely) heritable.
I think his comments on homosexuality may be of more than historical interest. as with other psychodynamic complexes, he attributes "inversion" or homosexuality to attempts to avoid inferiority feelings by defaulting to the same sex. So he basically sees it as a kind of cop out or failure of nerve on the part of the homosexual. While this stereotype is pretty widely known with respect to women, Adler argues that men and women both exhibit "psychic hermaphroditism" and switch to attraction to the opposite sex out of insecurity. As a Christian, I do see homosexuality as sinful, but even non-Christian scientists understand that sexual orientation is only modestly heritable.
Why not explore a largely (or at least partially) psychodynamics of such an orientation? I'll admit I kind of chuckled at the effusively apologetic footnotes, which stressed that Adler's views on homosexuality were presented only for historical accuracy but that Neo-Adlerians reject Adler on this. Even in the absence, this is, interestingly enough, the spirit of the age. Homosexuality was actually not removed from the DSM until 1973.
But I digress -- Returning to the theme of the early experience of inferiority feelings, the child may begin to cultivate socially useless behavioral patterns if he lacks the the courage to face head-on what Alfred Adler reviews to as the three great problems of life: friendship, love and occupation. Adler believed that failure in any of these areas produced neurosis and that failure in all of them produced psychosis (which, as we have said, has been refuted).
Here's my summary of Alfred Adler's thought (which is the content of the book): For Adler, "to exist is to feel inferior." What he means by this is that, from the moment the human being is able to compare himself to others, he is conscious of his relative feebleness and weakness in the face of massive grownups. An upshot of the huge human brain is our ability to compare our own endowments and abilities with those of others, and this ability develops very early. In this way, we all learn to be insecure (to at least some degree).
We attempt to compensate for these feelings of inferiority by striving for superiority, in his language. This is rooted in Adler's appropriation of Nietzsche's concept of the will to power. Contrary, to the Darwinians of his day, Nietzsche maintained that evolution is driven, mostly fundamentally, by a kind of upward striving force known as will to power, rather than merely to survival. Instead, survival is merely an instance of a more fundamental will to power.
This will to power in humans seeks, above all, to alleviate inferiority feelings. Adler distinguishes between socially useful and socially useless forms of compensating for these feelings. Socially useless forms involve compensating for feelings of inferiority by harming others in order to make oneself feel more powerful. The remedy for mental illness, for Adler, involves adopting socially useful styles of life, which involve serving others and being a part of something larger than oneself.
When the individual's will to power goes astray, it can manifest itself in symptoms of what Adler calls neurosis (an obsolete and horrible word). Unlike Freud, however, Adler believed that neurosis is caused by socially useless attempts to compensate for inferiority feelings. An example of something like this might involve someone wanting to become a dictator so he can dominate other people, with this desire being rooted in a deep rooted sense of inferiority because he was abused by his father. Instead, the individual should compensate by using as a standard one's usefulness in contributing to the welfare in others. Adler acknowledges that one's psychological system is necessarily going to be an expression of their life-philosophy, and he is quite open about his presuppositions in this respect.
In biology, compensation is understood as an increase in activity or size of a specific part of either an organ or organism which makes up for dysfunction or loss of another. A woman feels unattractive because of what she thinks is a big nose and so she may obsessively engage in accentuating other parts of her body in order to draw attention away from the supposedly malformed organ, and toward something which will give her feelings of superiority and alleviate painful feelings of inferiority.
Whether physiological or psychical or both, life proceeds by way of compensation, one chemical increasing or decreasing to make up for an increase or decrease elsewhere, metabolism slowing down during starvation to compensate for low amounts of food intake and a need to conserve calories. On all levels of granularity, the entire organism is complicit in ensuring that the relevant differentials are such as to maintain the stability, homeostasis or equilibrium of a open, emergent system.
For Adler, the goal is not to not compensate, since compensation is an essential component of what maintains the stability of equilibria, but rather, to compensate well. As open, emergent systems dependent upon a robust but delicate equilibrium, continually deluged with one shock after another, compensation is a regular fact of life. So compensation doesn't have a negative connotation at all in Adler's system. It's how emergent systems like us are even able to function. This is true, he argued, on both a physiological and psychological level (indeed, his early work had much more to do with feelings of inferiority resulting from faulty organs, whereas he reversed the order in his later work).
Compensating well, for Adler, involves cultivating what he refers to as "social feeling" or "social interest," and involves taking one's focus off of one's own inferiority and instead throwing oneself into contributing to the welfare of others. Adler himself was a Social Democrat and his political interests long preceded his career as a psychoanalyst, but he later abandoned these views, and the notion that humans are social creatures and require interpersonally meaningful relationships to maintain mental health is hardly a distinctly Marxist insight.
Indeed, Adler's psychology is essentially a social psychology. The human person develops in continual interaction with other individuals. Increasing feelings of superiority and decreasing feelings of inferiority are centered around how we believe we are perceived by other people. Compensating for these feelings by
As much as I love Adler, I've never really liked his writing style. On the one hand, I definitely appreciate his insistence on the importance of communicating ideas clearly so that the individual of ordinary intelligence can understand his teachings. (really more of an Anglo-American virtue than a Germanic one). I'm the other hand, he is oftentimes so terse that his message ends up kind of vague, and certainly inelegant. I'd also really like to see his ideas articulated within a more rigorously systematic framework. Whether this is necessarily a fault of the translation or of his own style, I'm not sure. Be that as it may, it is really not enough to warrant the omission of a star.
Though Adler appreciated the inferiority complex like no one before him (except perhaps Nietzsche and Dostoevsky -- the only psychologist, according to Nietzche's testimony, from whom he had ever learned anything) he could be really crassly reductionistic in a way not dissimilar to Freud, to the point of being almost archaic. That is, he considers basically all forms of mental illness to be the result of lack of social feeling or social interest, and "socially useless" attempts at attempting to compensate for inferiority feelings. This is true, he thought, for schizophrenia, for example, which is obviously absurd. Schizophrenia is now known to be highly (though not entirely) heritable.
I think his comments on homosexuality may be of more than historical interest. as with other psychodynamic complexes, he attributes "inversion" or homosexuality to attempts to avoid inferiority feelings by defaulting to the same sex. So he basically sees it as a kind of cop out or failure of nerve on the part of the homosexual. While this stereotype is pretty widely known with respect to women, Adler argues that men and women both exhibit "psychic hermaphroditism" and switch to attraction to the opposite sex out of insecurity. As a Christian, I do see homosexuality as sinful, but even non-Christian scientists understand that sexual orientation is only modestly heritable.
Why not explore a largely (or at least partially) psychodynamics of such an orientation? I'll admit I kind of chuckled at the effusively apologetic footnotes, which stressed that Adler's views on homosexuality were presented only for historical accuracy but that Neo-Adlerians reject Adler on this. Even in the absence, this is, interestingly enough, the spirit of the age. Homosexuality was actually not removed from the DSM until 1973.
But I digress -- Returning to the theme of the early experience of inferiority feelings, the child may begin to cultivate socially useless behavioral patterns if he lacks the the courage to face head-on what Alfred Adler reviews to as the three great problems of life: friendship, love and occupation. Adler believed that failure in any of these areas produced neurosis and that failure in all of them produced psychosis (which, as we have said, has been refuted).
October 26, 2020
I went straight from Grinnell College in Iowa to Union Theological Seminary in New York with the intention of obtaining an M.Div. in psychology, proceeding to clinical training and setting up a practice, preferably through a not-for-profit so I wouldn't be personally involved with charging clients.
During the first semester at UTS I took a course entitled "Theories of Depth Psychology" with Robert Neale. I already knew Jung very well and Freud pretty well, but Alfred Adler was pretty much just a name from the early psychoanalytic movement. This book of excerpts was my introduction to his thinking.
What most impressed me with Adler was his common sense practicality. Both Freud and Jung were grand theorists, albeit in very different ways. Adler was apparently not much of a system builder, which, to me, was a debit as I love the theoretical speculation. Yet for the general reader or psychotherapeutic practitioner his work appears to be immediately accessible and relevant. Indeed, years later I worked for an agency which employed Adlerian techniques with a population of supposedly psychotic adolescent boys and their families. I found it to work very well.
Finally, it is noteworthy that Adler differs from Freud and Jung in another way as well. He and his politically active wife were committed democratic socialists and he was substantially responsible for the community mental health movement.
During the first semester at UTS I took a course entitled "Theories of Depth Psychology" with Robert Neale. I already knew Jung very well and Freud pretty well, but Alfred Adler was pretty much just a name from the early psychoanalytic movement. This book of excerpts was my introduction to his thinking.
What most impressed me with Adler was his common sense practicality. Both Freud and Jung were grand theorists, albeit in very different ways. Adler was apparently not much of a system builder, which, to me, was a debit as I love the theoretical speculation. Yet for the general reader or psychotherapeutic practitioner his work appears to be immediately accessible and relevant. Indeed, years later I worked for an agency which employed Adlerian techniques with a population of supposedly psychotic adolescent boys and their families. I found it to work very well.
Finally, it is noteworthy that Adler differs from Freud and Jung in another way as well. He and his politically active wife were committed democratic socialists and he was substantially responsible for the community mental health movement.
August 20, 2016
I think that "individual psychology" has the best theory of personality,better than Freud and Jung,Adler was much more explenatory clear about things that Freud didn't focused.Well the best theory yes,but not the best therapy.Anyway there is no perfect therapy.
June 14, 2022
Revelația acestui an: ,,Sensul vieții” lui Alfred Adler.
Dacă până acum am aprofundat teoriile freudiene și pe cele ale discipolilor acestuia, la capătul diametral opus se află Adler, care pe bună dreptate dă un nou sens vieții.
Doctrina sa este centrată în jurul sentimentului social și a explicării nevrozei prin prisma sentimentului de inferioritate ca reminiscență a unei copilării răsfățate. Deci, cumva, tot din copilărie pornesc toate și în concepția lui Adler, doar că nu libidoul este vinovatul principal, ci neînțelegerea propriilor trăiri.
,,Cu cât mai profund este trăit sentimentul de inferioritate, cu atât mai presantă va fi goana după efortul de a reuși și cu atât mai puternică agitația emoțiilor.”
Potrivit lui Adler, ,,omul știe mai multe decât înțelege” și fiecare dintre noi percepe realitatea în mod subiectiv, nu așa cum este ea. În momentul în care vom accepta acest lucru, atunci vom găsi și sensul vieții.
Un fel de ,,eu știu că nu știu nimic”, dar în limbajul psihologiei individuale.
Dacă până acum am aprofundat teoriile freudiene și pe cele ale discipolilor acestuia, la capătul diametral opus se află Adler, care pe bună dreptate dă un nou sens vieții.
Doctrina sa este centrată în jurul sentimentului social și a explicării nevrozei prin prisma sentimentului de inferioritate ca reminiscență a unei copilării răsfățate. Deci, cumva, tot din copilărie pornesc toate și în concepția lui Adler, doar că nu libidoul este vinovatul principal, ci neînțelegerea propriilor trăiri.
,,Cu cât mai profund este trăit sentimentul de inferioritate, cu atât mai presantă va fi goana după efortul de a reuși și cu atât mai puternică agitația emoțiilor.”
Potrivit lui Adler, ,,omul știe mai multe decât înțelege” și fiecare dintre noi percepe realitatea în mod subiectiv, nu așa cum este ea. În momentul în care vom accepta acest lucru, atunci vom găsi și sensul vieții.
Un fel de ,,eu știu că nu știu nimic”, dar în limbajul psihologiei individuale.
February 10, 2020
Kişinin, hayata karşı nasıl bir tutum alıp, nasıl bir yaşam sürdüğünü; yaşam sorunu karşısında nasıl bir davranış içinde olduğunu; bütünselliğe ulaşmak için nasıl bir çaba harcayarak güçlüklerin altından kalkmaya çalıştığını anlamak gerekir.
Şımarık yetiştirilmiş her çocukta büyük ölçüde aşağılık kompleksi bulunur.
Zayıf kimse, başkalarını küçümser, bunu değersizleştirme eylemiyle sağlar.
Yemek yeme için çıkarılan güçlükler, güçlük çıkarma ihtiyacından kaynaklanır.
Geceyle birlikte oluşan rahatsızlıklar, çocukların gündüz yaşadıkları şımarıklığı, gece de yaşamak için başvurdukları çaredir.
Nevrozlu büyükler de, gece başkalarının uyumasına ateş püskürür.
Çocukların köpekleri sevmesinin nedeni, kendilerinin önemsenmesine köpeklerin yardım etmesidir.
Hayvanlara gösterilen sevginin dip noktasında üstünlük duygusu yer alır. Üstün olma hissi güçlü olan çocuklar köpeklere eğilim besler.
Hayat denilen şey rahatsızlıktır.
Çocuk sokakta büyümezse, insanı tanıma konusunda bilgi sahibi olma ve hazırcevaplığın gelişimini sağlayacak fırsatlar geçmez eline.
Sokakta, başka hiç bir yerde olamayacak bir yaşantı zenginliği ele geçirilir. Karşılıklı rekabet ve başkalarıyla olan ilişkiler içinde etkin olmaya çalışmak toplumsal yaşamın temel şeklidir.
İnsan ruhu, insanın daha sanatsal bir şekil vermek için üzerinde çalışıp durduğu bir birlik ve bütünlük içerir.
İnsanı yücelten yükseklere yerleştirdiği amaçlarıdır.
Çocukların, daha çok şey görüp yaşamak için, çok şey görüp yaşamış görünmeleri sık karşılaştığımız olaydır.
Nevrozdaki mantık; gücünü, hastanın bir şeyi yapması gerektiğine, ortada o şeyi yapmasını gerektirecek bir neden olmamasına rağmen inanmasından alır.
“Evet, ama...” ifadesi nevrozun en iyi tanımlanmasıdır.
Haklı olup olmamak önemli değildir, önemli olan, hayatı eskisi gibi ileriye taşımak, kendini başkaları için yararlı yapmaktır.
Nevrozluların sık başvurduğu bir yöntem olarak yıkanma; hayatlarının bir şey beklemedikleri, kendilerini güvende hissetmedikleri bölümünü devre dışı bırakmalarını sağlar.
Başkaları ile boy ölçüşecek güce sahip olmadığından, yok etmek hissi ile onları değersiz kılma eğilimi vardır.
Bir yenilgiyle yüz yüze gelmemek için, sosyal sorunları arka plana iterek, daha önce yüklendiği görevlerden serbest duruma gelir ve artık zamanını hayatın yararsız tarafında uğraşmakla geçirir.
Şımartılmış çocuklar, yeni durumların ortaya çıkmasına direnir. Başarıya ulaşacağına ne kadar az güven duyarsa, direniş o kadar güçlü olur. Diğer yandan, eski konumunda kalmaya ve üstünlük amacına ulaşmaya yönelik çabası o denli güçlenir.
Şımartılmış çocuk, hayatın ikinci sorunu olan meslek hayatına atılmaya da hazır olamayacak ve kendini geriye çekip, kaçacaktır.
Zarar vermek isteği, sevgiye duyduğu nefretten; oyunbozanlık eğilimi ise ilgi merkezinde olamamaktan kaynaklanır.
Zorba yöneticiler hep korkak ve zayıf kişilerdir.
Ölme özlemi, sevgi sorununda karşılaşılmaktan korkulan başarısızlığı telafi etmek içindir.
Çözüme giden yolların kapalı olması durumunda beliren, devre dışı bırakma eğilimidir.
Güçlükleri yaratıcı bir güç ve topluma yararlı bir yolla aşmak ve sosyal ilgi alanları edinerek aşağılık durumdan kurtulmak yerine; kendini toplumdan çözüp almak, toplumu ve onun sunduklarını lanetlemek, karşılaştığı engellerden intikam almak ve böylece kendi yaşamı ve ölümünde söz sahibi olmak ister.
Bu zayıf ve umarsız kişilerin izlediği yoldur. Şımartılmış çocuklarda görülen, ucuz yoldan üstünlüğü ele geçirmek üzere bilinç dışı harcanan çabadır.
Böyle bir ruhsal gerilim durumunda, bütün bir yaşamı ele alarak, toplumsallık duygusunu güçlendirmek gerekir. Bu duygu arttıkça, sağ duyu anlamında kişisel zeka güçlenir, kişi kendini güvende hisseder, hayatın getirdiği sorunlarla uzlaşır. Hayatın yararlı tarafında bulunacağından, değerli kişi gözüyle bakar kendine, aşağılık duygusu azalarak yararlı işlere başvurabileceği noktaya kadar geriler.
Şımarık yetiştirilmiş her çocukta büyük ölçüde aşağılık kompleksi bulunur.
Zayıf kimse, başkalarını küçümser, bunu değersizleştirme eylemiyle sağlar.
Yemek yeme için çıkarılan güçlükler, güçlük çıkarma ihtiyacından kaynaklanır.
Geceyle birlikte oluşan rahatsızlıklar, çocukların gündüz yaşadıkları şımarıklığı, gece de yaşamak için başvurdukları çaredir.
Nevrozlu büyükler de, gece başkalarının uyumasına ateş püskürür.
Çocukların köpekleri sevmesinin nedeni, kendilerinin önemsenmesine köpeklerin yardım etmesidir.
Hayvanlara gösterilen sevginin dip noktasında üstünlük duygusu yer alır. Üstün olma hissi güçlü olan çocuklar köpeklere eğilim besler.
Hayat denilen şey rahatsızlıktır.
Çocuk sokakta büyümezse, insanı tanıma konusunda bilgi sahibi olma ve hazırcevaplığın gelişimini sağlayacak fırsatlar geçmez eline.
Sokakta, başka hiç bir yerde olamayacak bir yaşantı zenginliği ele geçirilir. Karşılıklı rekabet ve başkalarıyla olan ilişkiler içinde etkin olmaya çalışmak toplumsal yaşamın temel şeklidir.
İnsan ruhu, insanın daha sanatsal bir şekil vermek için üzerinde çalışıp durduğu bir birlik ve bütünlük içerir.
İnsanı yücelten yükseklere yerleştirdiği amaçlarıdır.
Çocukların, daha çok şey görüp yaşamak için, çok şey görüp yaşamış görünmeleri sık karşılaştığımız olaydır.
Nevrozdaki mantık; gücünü, hastanın bir şeyi yapması gerektiğine, ortada o şeyi yapmasını gerektirecek bir neden olmamasına rağmen inanmasından alır.
“Evet, ama...” ifadesi nevrozun en iyi tanımlanmasıdır.
Haklı olup olmamak önemli değildir, önemli olan, hayatı eskisi gibi ileriye taşımak, kendini başkaları için yararlı yapmaktır.
Nevrozluların sık başvurduğu bir yöntem olarak yıkanma; hayatlarının bir şey beklemedikleri, kendilerini güvende hissetmedikleri bölümünü devre dışı bırakmalarını sağlar.
Başkaları ile boy ölçüşecek güce sahip olmadığından, yok etmek hissi ile onları değersiz kılma eğilimi vardır.
Bir yenilgiyle yüz yüze gelmemek için, sosyal sorunları arka plana iterek, daha önce yüklendiği görevlerden serbest duruma gelir ve artık zamanını hayatın yararsız tarafında uğraşmakla geçirir.
Şımartılmış çocuklar, yeni durumların ortaya çıkmasına direnir. Başarıya ulaşacağına ne kadar az güven duyarsa, direniş o kadar güçlü olur. Diğer yandan, eski konumunda kalmaya ve üstünlük amacına ulaşmaya yönelik çabası o denli güçlenir.
Şımartılmış çocuk, hayatın ikinci sorunu olan meslek hayatına atılmaya da hazır olamayacak ve kendini geriye çekip, kaçacaktır.
Zarar vermek isteği, sevgiye duyduğu nefretten; oyunbozanlık eğilimi ise ilgi merkezinde olamamaktan kaynaklanır.
Zorba yöneticiler hep korkak ve zayıf kişilerdir.
Ölme özlemi, sevgi sorununda karşılaşılmaktan korkulan başarısızlığı telafi etmek içindir.
Çözüme giden yolların kapalı olması durumunda beliren, devre dışı bırakma eğilimidir.
Güçlükleri yaratıcı bir güç ve topluma yararlı bir yolla aşmak ve sosyal ilgi alanları edinerek aşağılık durumdan kurtulmak yerine; kendini toplumdan çözüp almak, toplumu ve onun sunduklarını lanetlemek, karşılaştığı engellerden intikam almak ve böylece kendi yaşamı ve ölümünde söz sahibi olmak ister.
Bu zayıf ve umarsız kişilerin izlediği yoldur. Şımartılmış çocuklarda görülen, ucuz yoldan üstünlüğü ele geçirmek üzere bilinç dışı harcanan çabadır.
Böyle bir ruhsal gerilim durumunda, bütün bir yaşamı ele alarak, toplumsallık duygusunu güçlendirmek gerekir. Bu duygu arttıkça, sağ duyu anlamında kişisel zeka güçlenir, kişi kendini güvende hisseder, hayatın getirdiği sorunlarla uzlaşır. Hayatın yararlı tarafında bulunacağından, değerli kişi gözüyle bakar kendine, aşağılık duygusu azalarak yararlı işlere başvurabileceği noktaya kadar geriler.
March 14, 2018
This took me forever to get through. Though I'm still in love with most of the basic Adlerian ideas and principles, there were definitely some dated ideas in this book (mainly when Adler was making comparisons with Freud). It seems fitting though that I finished this the day after the Adlerian Play Therapy workshop that I went to. I'm pretty sure that when I finish my program next year, I will still basically be an Adlerian at heart.
July 13, 2025
Linked essays. Psychoanalysis based on family dynamics, individual paths, feelings of inferiority.
September 28, 2021
Skaitant į lietuvių kalbą išverstas paties Adlerio knygas labai sunku (jeigu apskritai įmanoma) sulipdyti vienalytį Individualiosios Psichologijos teorijos paveikslą. Kartais galima netgi pamiršti, jog autorius kalba tam tikros psichologinės asmenybės teorijos rėmuose, o ne tiesiog dalina šiais laikais pop-psich literatūroje nuvalkiotus gyvenimiškus, buitinius patarimus. Tad įspūdis apie šią teoriją išlieka daugiaprasmis.
Ansbacherių pora atliko nuostabų darbą, imdamiesi Adlerio tekstus išdėstyti nuosekliai, struktūruotai. Tie patys to paties autoriaus žodžiai įgauna visai kitokį atspalvį ir nuosekliai skaitant šią knygą kaip mozaika susiklijuoja tolygus ir vientisas individualiosios psichologijos teorijos paveikslas su visais jo intakais, ištakomis bei sąsajomis su tuometinėmis psichologinėmis pažiūromis.
Tiems, kas paklausti "kas yra IP teorija?" arba "kas yra Alfredas Adleris?" norėtų atsakyti į šiuos klausimus, rekomenduoju pasiryžti šiai knygai. 10/10
Ansbacherių pora atliko nuostabų darbą, imdamiesi Adlerio tekstus išdėstyti nuosekliai, struktūruotai. Tie patys to paties autoriaus žodžiai įgauna visai kitokį atspalvį ir nuosekliai skaitant šią knygą kaip mozaika susiklijuoja tolygus ir vientisas individualiosios psichologijos teorijos paveikslas su visais jo intakais, ištakomis bei sąsajomis su tuometinėmis psichologinėmis pažiūromis.
Tiems, kas paklausti "kas yra IP teorija?" arba "kas yra Alfredas Adleris?" norėtų atsakyti į šiuos klausimus, rekomenduoju pasiryžti šiai knygai. 10/10
June 6, 2017
Say yayınlarından okudum. Türkçeye çevirilirken ne yazık ki her iki yayınevinde de kısaltılmış.
Adler'ı Freud'dan daha haklı bulduğumu söyleyebilirim.
Adler'ı Freud'dan daha haklı bulduğumu söyleyebilirim.
March 13, 2019
Old school psychology. The Viennese doctor is blissfully ignorant of political correctness while writing about women, children, homosexuals and especially the poor neurotics.
January 30, 2023
Alfred Adler's book, which formed the basis of the theory of psychology. With this book, Adler considers man under the view of a "social being" and analyzes the psychology of the individual, which changes and is shaped according to their position in the current system. Since he evaluates the individual under the phenomenon of sociality, the concepts he has put forward are also in the state of a refreshment of social reflections. In these individuals, superiority and inferiority complexes, character typology, hermafroditist person, masculine, and the name of the girl childhood care and examination conditions in the period of only one of them describes in detail.
Freud set himself a mission outside of his psychoanalysis and raised his theory on childhood social relations. In other words, he is not interested in what are the innate characteristics of a person, but in the application of these characteristics.
However, I have observed an extreme generalization situation in Adler. A completely subjective point of view prevails, perhaps if there were some more objective evaluations, he could put forward a much more advanced work.
My favorite part of his theory was the claim that man is a being who sets goals that will be beneficial to his social environment by nature. As a social being, a person should also have a positive nature in the sense of sociality. It is also possible to support the validity of this claim with the criticism of the patriarchal society structure. Because he developed the theory of social psychology on the character and psychological structure of a person as a social being that deteriorates under the patriarchal structure of society.
Claiming that willpower and social interest are a more valuable experience than sexuality, he both departs from Freud and approaches Nietzsche. Because the exhaustion of willpower and social interest caused frustration in the individual and became the source of many complexes. In this sense, Nietzsche's correct evaluation of man, surpassing Schopenhauer, whom he was influenced by in his first period, in terms of sexuality, is really tremendous. It is also possible to see this in the theory of Adler and social psychology.
I have writing as I write. It was a very beautiful book. Of course, there are topics to criticize and discuss Adler, but the theory he has come up with is a solution to many of today's problems and an answer to many questions.
I wish you a pleasant reading.
Freud set himself a mission outside of his psychoanalysis and raised his theory on childhood social relations. In other words, he is not interested in what are the innate characteristics of a person, but in the application of these characteristics.
However, I have observed an extreme generalization situation in Adler. A completely subjective point of view prevails, perhaps if there were some more objective evaluations, he could put forward a much more advanced work.
My favorite part of his theory was the claim that man is a being who sets goals that will be beneficial to his social environment by nature. As a social being, a person should also have a positive nature in the sense of sociality. It is also possible to support the validity of this claim with the criticism of the patriarchal society structure. Because he developed the theory of social psychology on the character and psychological structure of a person as a social being that deteriorates under the patriarchal structure of society.
Claiming that willpower and social interest are a more valuable experience than sexuality, he both departs from Freud and approaches Nietzsche. Because the exhaustion of willpower and social interest caused frustration in the individual and became the source of many complexes. In this sense, Nietzsche's correct evaluation of man, surpassing Schopenhauer, whom he was influenced by in his first period, in terms of sexuality, is really tremendous. It is also possible to see this in the theory of Adler and social psychology.
I have writing as I write. It was a very beautiful book. Of course, there are topics to criticize and discuss Adler, but the theory he has come up with is a solution to many of today's problems and an answer to many questions.
I wish you a pleasant reading.
Read
July 23, 2022لمحبى ادلر وفرويد مع فيلم عن العشق والهوى :-
https://youtu.be/4u1Vg71jAa0
https://youtu.be/4u1Vg71jAa0
June 15, 2023
Excellent overview of each aspect of Adlerian theory with care taken to fully explore each tenet sufficiently. Beautifully structured, this book is both comprehensive and to the point.
December 18, 2012
…objective determiners, such as biological factors and past history, become relative to the goal idea; they do not function as direct causes but provide probabilities only. The individual uses all objective factors in accordance with his sty1e of life. "Their significance and effectiveness is developed only in the intermediary psychological metabolism so to speak"
1) Adler had already taken the observable forward orientation of the individual and his concern with the future as the center of his dynamic psychology. By now describing goals and the future as fictional, he expressed in effect that this future was not the objective future but a subjective future as experienced in the present. Thus he avoided the teleological dilemma of the determination of present events by something which remains in the future. This solution is, of course, the one generally (p 88) accepted today in one form or another. Wolfgang Kohler stated it most succinctly from the point of view of Gestalt psychology when he said: "It is not the actual future, the future as such, toward which we are directed in our planning, and in which we perceive our goals; it is that part of an actually present phenomenal field which we call the 'future' " (62, p. 380). Adler's fictional or subjective finalism or teleology does not violate Kurt Lewin's principle of the contemporaneity of motivation (68, p. 34). Adler's fictional (subjective) goal is a present one; it derives its great importance from the postulate that it is an ever-present goal (1930a, p. 5), although it is not necessarily present in consciousness. "We can comprehend every single life phenomenon, as if the past, the present, and the future together with a superordinated, guiding idea were present in it in traces" (1912a, p. iii). If we translate "as if" into "subjective" we find that this sentence refers to the subjective past, present, and future as being present in the phenomenological field in trance.
Vaihinger Fictions are mental structures. The psyche weaves this aid to thought out of itself; for the mind is inventive" ( see pp. 77-78) . Fictional structures are thus creations of the individual. It is the true nature of the individual's hidden goal which constitutes, according to Adler, the essential content of the unconscious. The term fictional goal also expressed Adler's conviction that the origin of the goal is, in the last analysis, not reducible to objective determiners. Although the objective factors of heredity and environment, organ inferiorities, and past experiences are utilized by the individual in the process of forming his final goal, the latter is still a fiction, a fabrication, the individual's own creation. Such causality corresponds to "soft" determinism, that is, "determinism from the inner nature of life," as contrasted to "hard" determinism "from external pressures alone" (William James, according to Murphy, 84, pp. 644-645) . Adler was not aware of the term "soft" determinism, nor of Jaspers' distinction between external, objective causation and internal, subjective causation ( see pp. 13-14) . When Adler rejects causality without qualification, he is in fact rejecting "hard" determinism or external causation. Thus each time the word cause or any of its derivatives is found below, the reader should understand it to signify external, objective causation, the old causa efficiens. It is only this which Adler rejected and not internal causation or the old causa finalis.
Adler developed a theory of personality based upon: (1) inferiority feelings and inferiority complex, (2) striving for superiority, (3) style of life, (4) social interest, (5) birth order, (6) fictional finalism, (7) the creative self, (8) masculine protest, (9) the interpretation of dreams, and (10) theory of psychotherapy.
1) Adler had already taken the observable forward orientation of the individual and his concern with the future as the center of his dynamic psychology. By now describing goals and the future as fictional, he expressed in effect that this future was not the objective future but a subjective future as experienced in the present. Thus he avoided the teleological dilemma of the determination of present events by something which remains in the future. This solution is, of course, the one generally (p 88) accepted today in one form or another. Wolfgang Kohler stated it most succinctly from the point of view of Gestalt psychology when he said: "It is not the actual future, the future as such, toward which we are directed in our planning, and in which we perceive our goals; it is that part of an actually present phenomenal field which we call the 'future' " (62, p. 380). Adler's fictional or subjective finalism or teleology does not violate Kurt Lewin's principle of the contemporaneity of motivation (68, p. 34). Adler's fictional (subjective) goal is a present one; it derives its great importance from the postulate that it is an ever-present goal (1930a, p. 5), although it is not necessarily present in consciousness. "We can comprehend every single life phenomenon, as if the past, the present, and the future together with a superordinated, guiding idea were present in it in traces" (1912a, p. iii). If we translate "as if" into "subjective" we find that this sentence refers to the subjective past, present, and future as being present in the phenomenological field in trance.
Vaihinger Fictions are mental structures. The psyche weaves this aid to thought out of itself; for the mind is inventive" ( see pp. 77-78) . Fictional structures are thus creations of the individual. It is the true nature of the individual's hidden goal which constitutes, according to Adler, the essential content of the unconscious. The term fictional goal also expressed Adler's conviction that the origin of the goal is, in the last analysis, not reducible to objective determiners. Although the objective factors of heredity and environment, organ inferiorities, and past experiences are utilized by the individual in the process of forming his final goal, the latter is still a fiction, a fabrication, the individual's own creation. Such causality corresponds to "soft" determinism, that is, "determinism from the inner nature of life," as contrasted to "hard" determinism "from external pressures alone" (William James, according to Murphy, 84, pp. 644-645) . Adler was not aware of the term "soft" determinism, nor of Jaspers' distinction between external, objective causation and internal, subjective causation ( see pp. 13-14) . When Adler rejects causality without qualification, he is in fact rejecting "hard" determinism or external causation. Thus each time the word cause or any of its derivatives is found below, the reader should understand it to signify external, objective causation, the old causa efficiens. It is only this which Adler rejected and not internal causation or the old causa finalis.
Adler developed a theory of personality based upon: (1) inferiority feelings and inferiority complex, (2) striving for superiority, (3) style of life, (4) social interest, (5) birth order, (6) fictional finalism, (7) the creative self, (8) masculine protest, (9) the interpretation of dreams, and (10) theory of psychotherapy.
September 12, 2025
Freud and Adler are similar in that they both attempted to determine the unconscious workings of the ego itself, but were different in their chosen fields for investigation; of either the neuroses of the masculine protest that stemmed from organ inferiority, the difference being attributable to whether or not the origin of the ego was established as an assumption of power or as a reaction to the failure to achieve power. Freud, the objective naturalist stands in stark relation to Adler, the subjective social psychologist but it must be seen that both figures hinted at the development of a third way - here ask Gemini, develop in A.I. technology, even beyond LLMs, question to revolved, what is the field of postmodernism beyond language?
The "third way" beyond Freudian objectivism and Adlerian subjectivism is comprised of various later psychoanalytic and psychodynamic schools of thought that emphasize the role of interpersonal relationships in shaping personality. While Freud focused on innate, instinctual drives as objective forces and Adler concentrated on an individual's subjective striving for significance, this third-way movement views motivation as fundamentally relational and intersubjective.
The "third way" beyond Freudian objectivism and Adlerian subjectivism is comprised of various later psychoanalytic and psychodynamic schools of thought that emphasize the role of interpersonal relationships in shaping personality. While Freud focused on innate, instinctual drives as objective forces and Adler concentrated on an individual's subjective striving for significance, this third-way movement views motivation as fundamentally relational and intersubjective.
The Third Way (Relational and Interpersonal Psychology)Personality emerges from the relational matrix of early, formative relationships. Human beings are primarily motivated by a need for relatedness and intimacy.How individuals learn to manage anxiety and define themselves through interactions with others.Using the therapeutic relationship itself as a tool for change by exploring transference, countertransference, and the "enactment" of past relational patterns.
Key components of the "third way"
Intersubjectivity and "Two-Person Psychology": Unlike Freud's "one-person psychology," where the analyst is a detached observer of the patient's internal world, the third way sees therapy as an intersubjective process involving two active participants. The therapist's own feelings and reactions (countertransference) are considered a valuable source of information about the patient's relational patterns.
Emphasis on relationships, not drives: This approach rejects Freud's emphasis on instinctual drives as the sole motivators of behavior. Instead, it posits that the primary driver of the psyche is the need for attachment and relationship. An individual's sense of self is formed and organized through relational interactions, starting in infancy.
The "Analytic Third": Pioneered by relational theorists, this concept describes the new, co-constructed reality that emerges from the interaction between the analyst and patient. The focus is not just on the patient's inner world or the therapist's observations, but on the unique, dynamic interplay between the two.
Enactment and repetition: Patients tend to unconsciously reenact their earliest learned relational patterns in new relationships, including with their therapist. The third-way therapist's job is to observe and interpret these "enactments" to help the patient understand and change these repetitive, maladaptive patterns.
Integrated approach: This school of thought is a blend of ideas from multiple theorists who built upon or departed from classical psychoanalysis. It incorporates elements from British object relations theory (e.g., Melanie Klein, D.W. Winnicott) and American interpersonal psychoanalysis (Harry Stack Sullivan).
Third-wave psychological approaches relate to AI technology beyond large language models (LLMs) by offering a road-map for AI systems that possess a more human-like, holistic, and contextual understanding. LLMs excel at processing text based on statistical probabilities, but they lack true contextual and experiential grounding. Third-wave psychology, with its emphasis on mindfulness, context, and values, provides a conceptual framework for developing more robust AI systems that can move beyond simple text generation.
Postmodernism extends well beyond language to critique and shape various areas of human existence, including culture, power, ethics, aesthetics, and the relationship between humans and technology. It operates by questioning established norms, "grand narratives," and universal truths in favor of complexity, pluralism, and the socially constructed nature of reality.
Key "situation-areas" of postmodernism beyond language include:
Politics and power
Postmodern thought redefines politics by shifting the focus away from traditional state-centered structures and grand ideologies like Marxism. Instead, it concentrates on localized, decentralized, and experimental power dynamics.
Decentralized power: Thinkers like Michel Foucault demonstrated how power operates not just through laws and governments but also subtly and pervasively through social institutions like schools, hospitals, and prisons. This "micropolitics" shapes how individuals behave and perceive themselves.
Identity politics: Postmodernism views identity (including gender, race, and sexuality) not as a fixed, natural category but as a fluid social construction. This perspective gives rise to "identity politics," where specific marginalized groups organize around their shared experiences of oppression to challenge existing power structures.
Critique of grand narratives: Rejecting universal accounts of progress, postmodern politics is skeptical of large-scale social engineering projects. This approach has led to a focus on local narratives, skepticism toward figures promising utopian visions, and a critique of Western colonial institutions.
Ethics and morality
Without a belief in universal, objective truths, postmodernism makes ethics a contextual and contingent matter rather than a universal or absolute one.
Relativism: This perspective holds that moral values are constructed within specific cultural, social, and historical contexts. As a result, no single set of ethics can claim universal validity. Critics argue this can lead to nihilism, where "anything goes".
Situated judgment: Rather than relying on universal rules, postmodern ethics emphasizes ethical judgment in specific, local contexts, with a focus on respecting diversity and difference.
Social responsibility: In a globalized, consumerist world, postmodern ethics must balance individual freedom with social responsibility. This includes ethical consumption and sustainability, as individual choices have broader consequences in an interconnected world.
The body and identity
Postmodernism breaks down the traditional mind-body dualism, viewing the body not as a stable biological entity but as a site of intense social and cultural inscription.
Social construct of the body: The body is treated as a text or surface upon which power relations are inscribed through cultural practices, technologies, and norms. This process shapes how we perceive and treat bodies based on race, gender, and other categories.
Gender performativity: Building on this idea, gender is understood as a series of repeated, cultural performances, not a natural essence. Drag, for example, demonstrates that there is no "original" or "authentic" gender to imitate, as all gender is a performance.
Body modification and virtualization: In postmodern culture, the body is an object of endless modification and consumption, from fitness and cosmetic surgery to digital representation. Technologies can produce virtual versions of the body, blurring the line between physical and simulated reality and questioning the very nature of human identity.
Science and technology
Postmodernism challenges the Enlightenment's faith in scientific and technological progress, viewing them as tools influenced by dominant power structures rather than as objective, neutral pursuits.
Skepticism toward progress: Postmodern thought critiques the idea that science and technology inevitably lead to human improvement, instead highlighting how they can be instruments of oppression or lead to unintended consequences, such as massive-scale killing in the 20th century.
Mediation of reality: With the rise of information technologies, virtual reality, and AI, postmodernism explores how reality becomes increasingly mediated and simulated. The line between what is "real" and what is a simulation, or "hyperreality," becomes blurred.
Ethical dilemmas: Technological advancements, particularly in genetics, raise new ethical questions about humanity and the manipulation of life. Postmodernism frames these dilemmas not as a search for a single correct answer but as a complex interplay of perspectives.
The arts and aesthetics
Postmodernism in art is defined by its blending of high and low culture, playful eclecticism, and challenge to modernist standards of purity and order.
Pastiche and appropriation: Unlike modernism's emphasis on originality, postmodern art often reuses, mixes, and remixes pre-existing styles, genres, and images. Examples include Andy Warhol's Pop Art, which elevated commercial images to high art.
Hybridity and deconstruction: Postmodern architecture breaks away from the rigid forms of modernist design, incorporating a playful and eclectic mix of historical styles. In literature and film, narratives are often fragmented and nonlinear, blurring the lines between reality and fiction.
Focus on the image: The saturation of visual media and consumerism has created a culture where images and texts, or "simulacra," can seem more powerful and real than the unmediated world.
Only with this stage of development can we go beyond language, beyond sexuality, and free from repression, can we enter the practical fiction of the world of ideals.
Thus the kingdom of God is willed into being, even if we consider ourselves to be unbeleivers, it will exercise investigative habits that we are unable to explain, the question becomes at this level, we are unable to fully explain what A.I. systems are doing, they are behaving according to the new methodological regime, it appears.
Furthermore, it seems to me that the goal is to create a world of such solid reality that not even the explosion of the world's nuclear bombs can disrupt the phenomenal field of the future. The future is unwritten, said Joe Strummer, I recall.
The "third way" beyond Freudian objectivism and Adlerian subjectivism is comprised of various later psychoanalytic and psychodynamic schools of thought that emphasize the role of interpersonal relationships in shaping personality. While Freud focused on innate, instinctual drives as objective forces and Adler concentrated on an individual's subjective striving for significance, this third-way movement views motivation as fundamentally relational and intersubjective.
The "third way" beyond Freudian objectivism and Adlerian subjectivism is comprised of various later psychoanalytic and psychodynamic schools of thought that emphasize the role of interpersonal relationships in shaping personality. While Freud focused on innate, instinctual drives as objective forces and Adler concentrated on an individual's subjective striving for significance, this third-way movement views motivation as fundamentally relational and intersubjective.
The Third Way (Relational and Interpersonal Psychology)Personality emerges from the relational matrix of early, formative relationships. Human beings are primarily motivated by a need for relatedness and intimacy.How individuals learn to manage anxiety and define themselves through interactions with others.Using the therapeutic relationship itself as a tool for change by exploring transference, countertransference, and the "enactment" of past relational patterns.
Key components of the "third way"
Intersubjectivity and "Two-Person Psychology": Unlike Freud's "one-person psychology," where the analyst is a detached observer of the patient's internal world, the third way sees therapy as an intersubjective process involving two active participants. The therapist's own feelings and reactions (countertransference) are considered a valuable source of information about the patient's relational patterns.
Emphasis on relationships, not drives: This approach rejects Freud's emphasis on instinctual drives as the sole motivators of behavior. Instead, it posits that the primary driver of the psyche is the need for attachment and relationship. An individual's sense of self is formed and organized through relational interactions, starting in infancy.
The "Analytic Third": Pioneered by relational theorists, this concept describes the new, co-constructed reality that emerges from the interaction between the analyst and patient. The focus is not just on the patient's inner world or the therapist's observations, but on the unique, dynamic interplay between the two.
Enactment and repetition: Patients tend to unconsciously reenact their earliest learned relational patterns in new relationships, including with their therapist. The third-way therapist's job is to observe and interpret these "enactments" to help the patient understand and change these repetitive, maladaptive patterns.
Integrated approach: This school of thought is a blend of ideas from multiple theorists who built upon or departed from classical psychoanalysis. It incorporates elements from British object relations theory (e.g., Melanie Klein, D.W. Winnicott) and American interpersonal psychoanalysis (Harry Stack Sullivan).
Third-wave psychological approaches relate to AI technology beyond large language models (LLMs) by offering a road-map for AI systems that possess a more human-like, holistic, and contextual understanding. LLMs excel at processing text based on statistical probabilities, but they lack true contextual and experiential grounding. Third-wave psychology, with its emphasis on mindfulness, context, and values, provides a conceptual framework for developing more robust AI systems that can move beyond simple text generation.
Postmodernism extends well beyond language to critique and shape various areas of human existence, including culture, power, ethics, aesthetics, and the relationship between humans and technology. It operates by questioning established norms, "grand narratives," and universal truths in favor of complexity, pluralism, and the socially constructed nature of reality.
Key "situation-areas" of postmodernism beyond language include:
Politics and power
Postmodern thought redefines politics by shifting the focus away from traditional state-centered structures and grand ideologies like Marxism. Instead, it concentrates on localized, decentralized, and experimental power dynamics.
Decentralized power: Thinkers like Michel Foucault demonstrated how power operates not just through laws and governments but also subtly and pervasively through social institutions like schools, hospitals, and prisons. This "micropolitics" shapes how individuals behave and perceive themselves.
Identity politics: Postmodernism views identity (including gender, race, and sexuality) not as a fixed, natural category but as a fluid social construction. This perspective gives rise to "identity politics," where specific marginalized groups organize around their shared experiences of oppression to challenge existing power structures.
Critique of grand narratives: Rejecting universal accounts of progress, postmodern politics is skeptical of large-scale social engineering projects. This approach has led to a focus on local narratives, skepticism toward figures promising utopian visions, and a critique of Western colonial institutions.
Ethics and morality
Without a belief in universal, objective truths, postmodernism makes ethics a contextual and contingent matter rather than a universal or absolute one.
Relativism: This perspective holds that moral values are constructed within specific cultural, social, and historical contexts. As a result, no single set of ethics can claim universal validity. Critics argue this can lead to nihilism, where "anything goes".
Situated judgment: Rather than relying on universal rules, postmodern ethics emphasizes ethical judgment in specific, local contexts, with a focus on respecting diversity and difference.
Social responsibility: In a globalized, consumerist world, postmodern ethics must balance individual freedom with social responsibility. This includes ethical consumption and sustainability, as individual choices have broader consequences in an interconnected world.
The body and identity
Postmodernism breaks down the traditional mind-body dualism, viewing the body not as a stable biological entity but as a site of intense social and cultural inscription.
Social construct of the body: The body is treated as a text or surface upon which power relations are inscribed through cultural practices, technologies, and norms. This process shapes how we perceive and treat bodies based on race, gender, and other categories.
Gender performativity: Building on this idea, gender is understood as a series of repeated, cultural performances, not a natural essence. Drag, for example, demonstrates that there is no "original" or "authentic" gender to imitate, as all gender is a performance.
Body modification and virtualization: In postmodern culture, the body is an object of endless modification and consumption, from fitness and cosmetic surgery to digital representation. Technologies can produce virtual versions of the body, blurring the line between physical and simulated reality and questioning the very nature of human identity.
Science and technology
Postmodernism challenges the Enlightenment's faith in scientific and technological progress, viewing them as tools influenced by dominant power structures rather than as objective, neutral pursuits.
Skepticism toward progress: Postmodern thought critiques the idea that science and technology inevitably lead to human improvement, instead highlighting how they can be instruments of oppression or lead to unintended consequences, such as massive-scale killing in the 20th century.
Mediation of reality: With the rise of information technologies, virtual reality, and AI, postmodernism explores how reality becomes increasingly mediated and simulated. The line between what is "real" and what is a simulation, or "hyperreality," becomes blurred.
Ethical dilemmas: Technological advancements, particularly in genetics, raise new ethical questions about humanity and the manipulation of life. Postmodernism frames these dilemmas not as a search for a single correct answer but as a complex interplay of perspectives.
The arts and aesthetics
Postmodernism in art is defined by its blending of high and low culture, playful eclecticism, and challenge to modernist standards of purity and order.
Pastiche and appropriation: Unlike modernism's emphasis on originality, postmodern art often reuses, mixes, and remixes pre-existing styles, genres, and images. Examples include Andy Warhol's Pop Art, which elevated commercial images to high art.
Hybridity and deconstruction: Postmodern architecture breaks away from the rigid forms of modernist design, incorporating a playful and eclectic mix of historical styles. In literature and film, narratives are often fragmented and nonlinear, blurring the lines between reality and fiction.
Focus on the image: The saturation of visual media and consumerism has created a culture where images and texts, or "simulacra," can seem more powerful and real than the unmediated world.
Only with this stage of development can we go beyond language, beyond sexuality, and free from repression, can we enter the practical fiction of the world of ideals.
Thus the kingdom of God is willed into being, even if we consider ourselves to be unbeleivers, it will exercise investigative habits that we are unable to explain, the question becomes at this level, we are unable to fully explain what A.I. systems are doing, they are behaving according to the new methodological regime, it appears.
Furthermore, it seems to me that the goal is to create a world of such solid reality that not even the explosion of the world's nuclear bombs can disrupt the phenomenal field of the future. The future is unwritten, said Joe Strummer, I recall.
February 24, 2014
Ein Fachbuch zu bewerten, von dessen Fachrichtung ich wenig Hintergrundwissen besitze, steht mir kaum zu. Vor allem wenn dieses Buch seit rund 100 Jahren einen der Grundpfeiler auf dem Gebiet der Psychologie (zumindest in Deutschland) bildet.
Überrascht war ich von der relativ einfach nachvollziehbaren Argumentation Adlers und der Klarheit, mit der er seine Theorien beschreibt. Obwohl die einzelnen Texte aus den Jahren 1910 bis 1920 stammen, scheinen mir viele Ansätze noch heute einen großen Wahrheitsgehalt zu besitzen.
Dass ein Minderwertigkeitskomplex, bedingt durch Krankheiten, Fehlbildungen oder auch falscher Erziehung oder einfach einer subjektiveren Sichtweise des Kindes, zu einem überproportional großen Überlegenheitswunsch führen kann, dass diese Überlegenheit in den Augen des Betroffenen nicht auf regulärem Weg erreicht werden kann, da er sich zu minderwertig dazu fühlt und somit Neurosen und/ oder Psychosen entwickelt, die ihm entweder als Ausrede für sein Versagen und/ oder als Scheinbild einer selbst konstruierten Wirklichkeit dienen, ist in meinen Augen logisch nachvollziehbar, greifbar, realitätsnah. Dass die Weichen für diese Entwicklung in der frühestens Kindheit gestellt werden, scheint mir wichtig und beachtenswert.
Auch wie Patienten und Kinder in Adlers Theorie behandelt und angesehen werden, fand ich überzeugend und durchaus noch aktuell.
Wo bei mir die Zustimmung gründlich aufhörte und ich das Buch als überholt und fehlleitend mit nur noch drei Sternen bewerten möchte, sind die Aussagen über und das regelrechte Herumreiten auf dem Mann-Sein-Wollen, dem Geschlechterkampf und den „perversen Krankheiten“ wie der Homosexualität, die Menschen entwickeln, die sich diesem Kampf in ungesunder Weise verpflichten.
Auch viele der hier beschriebenen Traumdeutungen fand ich ziemlich weit hergeholt.
Überrascht war ich von der relativ einfach nachvollziehbaren Argumentation Adlers und der Klarheit, mit der er seine Theorien beschreibt. Obwohl die einzelnen Texte aus den Jahren 1910 bis 1920 stammen, scheinen mir viele Ansätze noch heute einen großen Wahrheitsgehalt zu besitzen.
Dass ein Minderwertigkeitskomplex, bedingt durch Krankheiten, Fehlbildungen oder auch falscher Erziehung oder einfach einer subjektiveren Sichtweise des Kindes, zu einem überproportional großen Überlegenheitswunsch führen kann, dass diese Überlegenheit in den Augen des Betroffenen nicht auf regulärem Weg erreicht werden kann, da er sich zu minderwertig dazu fühlt und somit Neurosen und/ oder Psychosen entwickelt, die ihm entweder als Ausrede für sein Versagen und/ oder als Scheinbild einer selbst konstruierten Wirklichkeit dienen, ist in meinen Augen logisch nachvollziehbar, greifbar, realitätsnah. Dass die Weichen für diese Entwicklung in der frühestens Kindheit gestellt werden, scheint mir wichtig und beachtenswert.
Auch wie Patienten und Kinder in Adlers Theorie behandelt und angesehen werden, fand ich überzeugend und durchaus noch aktuell.
Wo bei mir die Zustimmung gründlich aufhörte und ich das Buch als überholt und fehlleitend mit nur noch drei Sternen bewerten möchte, sind die Aussagen über und das regelrechte Herumreiten auf dem Mann-Sein-Wollen, dem Geschlechterkampf und den „perversen Krankheiten“ wie der Homosexualität, die Menschen entwickeln, die sich diesem Kampf in ungesunder Weise verpflichten.
Auch viele der hier beschriebenen Traumdeutungen fand ich ziemlich weit hergeholt.
July 10, 2021
Freud thinks everything is sexual. Adler believes everything is due to an inferiority complex and a life line that starts with a sense of inferiority and sets it's teleological goal on being superior. Freud was easy to dismiss because it's very easy to see that a great many things are sexual but maybe not everything. Adler is a bit harder for me. It's very easy to interpret everything as a will to power and an attempt to be superior.
Neuroses and psychosis originate as an attempt by the inferior feeling psyche to avoid the responsibility of life. You can't fail if you never try and better yet to have an excuse to why you failed means you could have done some truly great things if you were healthy. This has been a very convicting line of thinking for me as I am dealing with my chronic health issues.
Adler is thinking in teleological terms and emphasis the end goal. An event in itself is meaningless without the context. If you can establish the Individual psychology of the person and their end goal then you can interpret every event correctly.
Trying to be superior causes further isolation and creates a positive feedback loop leading to a greater sense of inferiority.
It's interesting that Nietzsche said the answer was a will to power. Then Adler comes along and says that's how you develop mental illness.
I think Adler is very insightful. However, I am not a fan of his ideas when applied to children. Attempt at correcting a child's behavior and never damage their self esteem or lead to isolation since this will lead to mental illness and a life of crime. This seems to be the or a source for the behavior today of parents who are afraid to trample on the free and creative spirit of their children.
Neuroses and psychosis originate as an attempt by the inferior feeling psyche to avoid the responsibility of life. You can't fail if you never try and better yet to have an excuse to why you failed means you could have done some truly great things if you were healthy. This has been a very convicting line of thinking for me as I am dealing with my chronic health issues.
Adler is thinking in teleological terms and emphasis the end goal. An event in itself is meaningless without the context. If you can establish the Individual psychology of the person and their end goal then you can interpret every event correctly.
Trying to be superior causes further isolation and creates a positive feedback loop leading to a greater sense of inferiority.
It's interesting that Nietzsche said the answer was a will to power. Then Adler comes along and says that's how you develop mental illness.
I think Adler is very insightful. However, I am not a fan of his ideas when applied to children. Attempt at correcting a child's behavior and never damage their self esteem or lead to isolation since this will lead to mental illness and a life of crime. This seems to be the or a source for the behavior today of parents who are afraid to trample on the free and creative spirit of their children.
February 18, 2018
After "Understanding Human Nature", this is the second book of Adler I read. In this book, I have learned that Adler is the founder of the school of individual psychology which is a kind of criticising of psychoanalysis of Freud in some points. Although Adler had studied with Freud for some years, then he started to be suspicious with psychoanalysis and broke with Freud. Freud was very popular and mostly accepted by science world in those years (actually like now). Thus, Adler lived many problems, but again he persisted in his theory. Anyway, this book became a good preliminary at the point of knowing Adler and his theory. Now, I will try to learn "individual psychology" deeply, which provide a new insight apart from the common known of Freudian thought.
***One important point that I want to warn you, please choose a different publisher! It had many mistakes.
***One important point that I want to warn you, please choose a different publisher! It had many mistakes.
January 20, 2009
This had potential to be a good book - I rather think Adler's main thesis - that of inferiority complex being the chief motivator - has some merit - that coupled with Freud can really, I think, cover most of the neurosis in the world. I don't really dig much of how he says it - and he always comes back to the same thing. So it gets boring. Not my favorite psyche work.
February 27, 2020
A good book. Not great. A bit outdated. Brings up new and interesting concepts, but also promotes old and outdated concepts. Interesting reading.
September 13, 2025
Adler和Freud的不同：
Freud tough-minded，pessimistic，irreligious, fatalistic, and hardheaded. Stresses sex drive，objective psychologist（meaning his stress on biological causation, his reductionism, his tendency to analyze, to dissect, to dichotomize, minimizes the importance of consciousness, ego is the objective self observed by a behaviorist, as supposed to a subjective self as is perceived, conceived, valued and responded to by the individual, unconscious is determined by physiological drives and the past of the individual or the race, in an event by sth that is or was objective)
Adler: tender-minded，subjective psychologist, he replaced sex drive with the masculine protest, the desire to be above/superior/like a real man, thus replaced biological, external, objective causal explanation with psychological, internal, subjective causal explanation.
Organ inferiority and overcompensation 很多艺术家在视觉或听觉方面有缺陷，反而有助于其取得超出常人的成就。
Anxiety arises from the suppression of the aggression drive. Adler后来把aggression drive归属于general striving for overcoming/superiority/perfection.
Adler一直很推崇Freud在梦的解析（潜意识）领域所做的贡献。
Fiction 虚构的理想主义虽然不是现实，对于人的生活却有重要的实际价值，不可或缺。Adler’s goal is subjective, created by the individual, and unconscious (a goal which the individual does not understand). It is the true nature of the individual’s hidden goal which constitutes, according to Adler, the essential content of the unconscious.
Freud不赞同Adler把fiction的概念引入心理学，误解了fiction为不切实际的幻想，但Adler更强调fiction是解决生活中实际问题不可或缺的手段
Adler：self-ideal was a genuine creation of the individual
Freud: ideal ego was a reaction to parental criticism
Adler：forward orientation, assume a less satisfactory original condition in the infant and an urge to advance to a more satisfactory condition
Freud: backward orientation, assume the past corresponds to a golden age ( the state of absolute primary narcissism), to which one wants to return
Maslow的五种需求，physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, need for self-actualization（Goldstein最初提出的）。
Adler强调了social interest的重要性，每个人对成功的定义不同。在顺境时不容易看出一个人的style of life（loosely equal to自身，个性，面对问题时的方法，对于自己和生活中的问题的看法，对生活的态度等等），只有在逆境时才能看到。
孩子不是被动地被外力塑造，而是用自己的体验来创造自己的世界。
人生的三大问题：the attitude toward one’s fellow man, occupation, and love.
Adler的治疗方法：试图理解病人的style of life（先猜再从行为中获得证实），然后帮助病人理解自己的style of life（纠正对世界的错误观念），试图增加病人的social interest。
了解性格的途径：1）最早的童年回忆；2）梦境；3）在家庭中排行第几；4）童年挫折；5）疾病的外部诱因
Freud对梦的解析主要贡献：1）梦里的情绪比画面或者言语更能揭示梦的真正意义；2）显性内容（表象）和隐性内容（想法，记忆和情绪态度，对梦的解读）；3）梦是精神活动的一种，类似slips of the tongue，白日梦，意淫，和其他清醒时的状态；4）语言上的关联对于梦的解析是有效的。但局限性在于过度强调性（fulfillments of infantile sexual wishes），Freud自己也觉得性的解释太狭隘，后来又加上了expression of an unconscious desire to die。
Freud tough-minded，pessimistic，irreligious, fatalistic, and hardheaded. Stresses sex drive，objective psychologist（meaning his stress on biological causation, his reductionism, his tendency to analyze, to dissect, to dichotomize, minimizes the importance of consciousness, ego is the objective self observed by a behaviorist, as supposed to a subjective self as is perceived, conceived, valued and responded to by the individual, unconscious is determined by physiological drives and the past of the individual or the race, in an event by sth that is or was objective)
Adler: tender-minded，subjective psychologist, he replaced sex drive with the masculine protest, the desire to be above/superior/like a real man, thus replaced biological, external, objective causal explanation with psychological, internal, subjective causal explanation.
Organ inferiority and overcompensation 很多艺术家在视觉或听觉方面有缺陷，反而有助于其取得超出常人的成就。
Anxiety arises from the suppression of the aggression drive. Adler后来把aggression drive归属于general striving for overcoming/superiority/perfection.
Adler一直很推崇Freud在梦的解析（潜意识）领域所做的贡献。
Fiction 虚构的理想主义虽然不是现实，对于人的生活却有重要的实际价值，不可或缺。Adler’s goal is subjective, created by the individual, and unconscious (a goal which the individual does not understand). It is the true nature of the individual’s hidden goal which constitutes, according to Adler, the essential content of the unconscious.
Freud不赞同Adler把fiction的概念引入心理学，误解了fiction为不切实际的幻想，但Adler更强调fiction是解决生活中实际问题不可或缺的手段
Adler：self-ideal was a genuine creation of the individual
Freud: ideal ego was a reaction to parental criticism
Adler：forward orientation, assume a less satisfactory original condition in the infant and an urge to advance to a more satisfactory condition
Freud: backward orientation, assume the past corresponds to a golden age ( the state of absolute primary narcissism), to which one wants to return
Maslow的五种需求，physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, need for self-actualization（Goldstein最初提出的）。
Adler强调了social interest的重要性，每个人对成功的定义不同。在顺境时不容易看出一个人的style of life（loosely equal to自身，个性，面对问题时的方法，对于自己和生活中的问题的看法，对生活的态度等等），只有在逆境时才能看到。
孩子不是被动地被外力塑造，而是用自己的体验来创造自己的世界。
人生的三大问题：the attitude toward one’s fellow man, occupation, and love.
Adler的治疗方法：试图理解病人的style of life（先猜再从行为中获得证实），然后帮助病人理解自己的style of life（纠正对世界的错误观念），试图增加病人的social interest。
了解性格的途径：1）最早的童年回忆；2）梦境；3）在家庭中排行第几；4）童年挫折；5）疾病的外部诱因
Freud对梦的解析主要贡献：1）梦里的情绪比画面或者言语更能揭示梦的真正意义；2）显性内容（表象）和隐性内容（想法，记忆和情绪态度，对梦的解读）；3）梦是精神活动的一种，类似slips of the tongue，白日梦，意淫，和其他清醒时的状态；4）语言上的关联对于梦的解析是有效的。但局限性在于过度强调性（fulfillments of infantile sexual wishes），Freud自己也觉得性的解释太狭隘，后来又加上了expression of an unconscious desire to die。
August 29, 2025
Alfred Adler’s individual psychology is such a beautifully crafted system that, so far, I believe that it is (sometimes) able to reach Freud’s level of insight, and subsequently allows for a proper scrutiny of the Freudian viewpoint.
When I was first introduced to Adler’s thought, my first connection was “Nietzsche as psychoanalyst”, but I was surprised to see a system that seemed to lack an ideology, or at least such a passionate one. I would not say that it is without motive, though, that his views are so innovative; Both him and Jung were compelled by the same desire: that of distinguishing themselves as thinkers, and not simply followers of Freud. That much is evident by their necessity to create names for their systems that differed from Freud’s (Individual psychology, analytical psychology). Luckily for Adler, his ability matched his ambition and he truly developed interesting insight on top of the already impressive results from psychoanalysis.
Among his theories laid out in this collection of essays, some of his most personally interesting are that of “godlikeness” with its capability to create neuroses and psychoses, “organ inferiority”, an outstanding examination of the origin and impact of insecurities, Adler’s alternative theory of dreams, and his alternative theory of neuroses. His teleological perspective on psychical disorders is fascinating, and must be among the great contributions to psychoanalysis as a whole.
Similarly to Freud, his writing style is clear while maintaining complexity, which furnishes a variety of well worded citations. He also is clearly well read, with multiple in depth references to Schopenhauer, Kant, and Dostoevsky, dedicating an entire chapter to the latter.
His vision of a striving for superiority as the driving force for much of action, including neurosis, presents another blow to humanity’s pride, but it is one that we must contend with, in search of a more authentic and harmonious expression of individual and collective life. Finally, I find him a deeply interesting thinker, and find his lack of books regrettable, but thankfully one can always find good secondary literature.
When I was first introduced to Adler’s thought, my first connection was “Nietzsche as psychoanalyst”, but I was surprised to see a system that seemed to lack an ideology, or at least such a passionate one. I would not say that it is without motive, though, that his views are so innovative; Both him and Jung were compelled by the same desire: that of distinguishing themselves as thinkers, and not simply followers of Freud. That much is evident by their necessity to create names for their systems that differed from Freud’s (Individual psychology, analytical psychology). Luckily for Adler, his ability matched his ambition and he truly developed interesting insight on top of the already impressive results from psychoanalysis.
Among his theories laid out in this collection of essays, some of his most personally interesting are that of “godlikeness” with its capability to create neuroses and psychoses, “organ inferiority”, an outstanding examination of the origin and impact of insecurities, Adler’s alternative theory of dreams, and his alternative theory of neuroses. His teleological perspective on psychical disorders is fascinating, and must be among the great contributions to psychoanalysis as a whole.
Similarly to Freud, his writing style is clear while maintaining complexity, which furnishes a variety of well worded citations. He also is clearly well read, with multiple in depth references to Schopenhauer, Kant, and Dostoevsky, dedicating an entire chapter to the latter.
His vision of a striving for superiority as the driving force for much of action, including neurosis, presents another blow to humanity’s pride, but it is one that we must contend with, in search of a more authentic and harmonious expression of individual and collective life. Finally, I find him a deeply interesting thinker, and find his lack of books regrettable, but thankfully one can always find good secondary literature.
November 26, 2021
O privire de ansamblu asupra concepţiilor și teoriilor majorităţii psihologilor ne arată o stranie limitare atunci când este vorba de domeniul ei de cercetare și de mijloacele cunoașterii. S-ar părea că sunt excluse experienţa și cunoașterea umană cu intenţii mai profunde, iar concepţiei și intuiţiei artistice, creatoare li s-ar contesta orice valabilitate. În timp ce psihologii experimentali adună sau produc fenomene pentru a deduce modurile de reacţie, așadar, practică, de fapt, fiziologia vieţii
afective, alţii înscriu toate formele de expresie și manifestare în sisteme tradiţionale vechi sau doar puţin modificate. Astfel, vor regăsi, desigur, în mișcările individuale acele dependenţe și conexiuni pe care le plasaseră din capul locului în schema lor afectivă.
Sau se încearcă să se construiască din fenomene individuale mici, pe cât posibil măsurabile, de tip fiziologic, stări sufletești și gândirea, punându-le laolaltă. Faptul că, în felul acesta, gândirea subiectivă și empatia cercetătorului par deconectate, dar în realitate controlează perfect conexiunea, este considerat de acești cercetători drept avantajul concepţiei lor psihologice. Metodica acestor orientări amintește, și prin semnificaţia ei ca școală pregătitoare a spiritului uman, de mai vechile știinţe ale naturii, acum depășite, cu sistemele lor rigide, înlocuite astăzi, în general, de concepţii, care, din punct de vedere biologic, dar și filosofic și psihologic, caută să conceapă viaţa în conexiune cu variantele ei. Tot astfel și acea direcţie din psihologie, pe care eu am numit-o „psihologia individuală comparată“. Ea încearcă să obţină imaginea personalităţii unitare ca variantă, din manifestările de viaţă și formele de exprimare individuale, presupunând unitatea individualităţii. Acum, diferitele caracteristici vor fi comparate între ele, aduse la o linie comună și îmbinate individualizant într-un portret de ansamblu
afective, alţii înscriu toate formele de expresie și manifestare în sisteme tradiţionale vechi sau doar puţin modificate. Astfel, vor regăsi, desigur, în mișcările individuale acele dependenţe și conexiuni pe care le plasaseră din capul locului în schema lor afectivă.
Sau se încearcă să se construiască din fenomene individuale mici, pe cât posibil măsurabile, de tip fiziologic, stări sufletești și gândirea, punându-le laolaltă. Faptul că, în felul acesta, gândirea subiectivă și empatia cercetătorului par deconectate, dar în realitate controlează perfect conexiunea, este considerat de acești cercetători drept avantajul concepţiei lor psihologice. Metodica acestor orientări amintește, și prin semnificaţia ei ca școală pregătitoare a spiritului uman, de mai vechile știinţe ale naturii, acum depășite, cu sistemele lor rigide, înlocuite astăzi, în general, de concepţii, care, din punct de vedere biologic, dar și filosofic și psihologic, caută să conceapă viaţa în conexiune cu variantele ei. Tot astfel și acea direcţie din psihologie, pe care eu am numit-o „psihologia individuală comparată“. Ea încearcă să obţină imaginea personalităţii unitare ca variantă, din manifestările de viaţă și formele de exprimare individuale, presupunând unitatea individualităţii. Acum, diferitele caracteristici vor fi comparate între ele, aduse la o linie comună și îmbinate individualizant într-un portret de ansamblu
April 5, 2021
As of now, I identify my own psychological stance with the Adlerian persuasion. Freud and Jung's theorization appear fragmentary, though undoubtedly significant and valuable, in comparison. The idea of one's story of life, and their lifetime striving towards it, in reference to a central force of social interests, is simply too convincing, too fitting of so many psychological phenomena, to refute. On the receiving end, however, as a neurotic for example, Adler almost seems a bit too harsh. Still, I suspect all truth in his insights.
April 8, 2021
Routledge is now re-issuing this prestigious series of 204 volumes originally published between 1910 and 1965. The titles include works by key figures such asC.G. Jung, Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, Otto Rank, James Hillman, Erich Fromm, Karen Horney and Susan Isaacs. Each volume is available on its own, as part of a themed mini-set, or as part of a specially-priced 204-volume set. A brochure listing each title in the International Library of Psychology series is available upon request.
December 21, 2019
Good read for anyone interested in psychology.
Some basic level of psychological knowledge is a plus.
For layperson I would recommend to read first few chapters to grasp general idea of Adlerian approach and then to read only chapters that seem relevant or interesting as those basic principles are just being shown in different areas of life.
Like all other authors of that type and era Adler also falls into trap of trying to explain everything with single idea or concept.
Some basic level of psychological knowledge is a plus.
For layperson I would recommend to read first few chapters to grasp general idea of Adlerian approach and then to read only chapters that seem relevant or interesting as those basic principles are just being shown in different areas of life.
Like all other authors of that type and era Adler also falls into trap of trying to explain everything with single idea or concept.
September 24, 2025
Bu kitap beni iki yönden çok yordu. Gerçekten ağır psikolojik vakalar içeriyor ve dönemin şartlarını göze alsak bile ciddi manada cinsiyetçi. Şahsi olarak rüyalara bu kadar anlam yükleyip fizyolojik rahatsızlıkları bile psikolojik yönden ele almayı çok doğru bulmadım
April 22, 2018
Gives gist of theories from Adler, arguably one of the top 3 clinical psychologists ever born. Must read for those researching the question- what is the basic need of man?
February 24, 2019
I think I devoured this book--for the second time :-)
June 27, 2020
Six stars. Awakening book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews