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Drawing the Line: The Political Essays
Book by Paul Goodman
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1977
15 people want to read
About the author
Paul Goodman
206 books113 followersPaul Goodman was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decentralization, democracy, education, media, politics, psychology, technology, urban planning, and war. As a humanist and self-styled man of letters, his works often addressed a common theme of the individual citizen's duties in the larger society, and the responsibility to exercise autonomy, act creatively, and realize one's own human nature.
Born to a Jewish family in New York City, Goodman was raised by his aunts and sister and attended City College of New York. As an aspiring writer, he wrote and published poems and fiction before receiving his doctorate from the University of Chicago. He returned to writing in New York City and took sporadic magazine writing and teaching jobs, several of which he lost for his overt bisexuality and World War II draft resistance. Goodman discovered anarchism and wrote for libertarian journals. His radicalism was rooted in psychological theory. He co-wrote the theory behind Gestalt therapy based on Wilhelm Reich's radical Freudianism and held psychoanalytic sessions through the 1950s while continuing to write prolifically.
His 1960 book of social criticism, Growing Up Absurd, established his importance as a mainstream, antiestablishment cultural theorist. Goodman became known as "the philosopher of the New Left" and his anarchistic disposition was influential in 1960s counterculture and the free school movement. Despite being the foremost American intellectual of non-Marxist radicalism in his time, his celebrity did not endure far beyond his life. Goodman is remembered for his utopian proposals and principled belief in human potential.
Born to a Jewish family in New York City, Goodman was raised by his aunts and sister and attended City College of New York. As an aspiring writer, he wrote and published poems and fiction before receiving his doctorate from the University of Chicago. He returned to writing in New York City and took sporadic magazine writing and teaching jobs, several of which he lost for his overt bisexuality and World War II draft resistance. Goodman discovered anarchism and wrote for libertarian journals. His radicalism was rooted in psychological theory. He co-wrote the theory behind Gestalt therapy based on Wilhelm Reich's radical Freudianism and held psychoanalytic sessions through the 1950s while continuing to write prolifically.
His 1960 book of social criticism, Growing Up Absurd, established his importance as a mainstream, antiestablishment cultural theorist. Goodman became known as "the philosopher of the New Left" and his anarchistic disposition was influential in 1960s counterculture and the free school movement. Despite being the foremost American intellectual of non-Marxist radicalism in his time, his celebrity did not endure far beyond his life. Goodman is remembered for his utopian proposals and principled belief in human potential.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 11, 2024
A POSTHUMOUS COLLECTION OF GOODMAN'S WRITINGS
Paul Goodman (1911-1972) was a novelist, playwright, poet, psychotherapist, social critic, and activist on the pacifist Left in the 1960s. He wrote a number of books such as 'Growing Up Absurd: Problems of Youth in the Organized System,' 'New Reformation: Notes of a Neolithic Conservative,' 'Compulsory Mis-Education and the Community of Scholars.,' etc. This book was published posthumously in 1977.
He describes the libertarian as "rather a millenarian than an utopian." (Pg. 3) Decentralization is not lack or order or organization, but "a different kind of coordination." (Pg. 185)
He states that it is important to understand that modern urbanization is not a result of technological advance; "Indeed, the thrust of modern technology has been against urbanization... automation implies, if anything, the concentration of a great plant in a small space with a few workers..." (Pg. 62)
He advises, "I do not myself think that we will turn away from science. In spite of the fantasies of hippies, we are going to continue to live in a technological world; the question is, is that viable?" (Pg. 231)
This book will be of interest to those who like Goodman's other books.
Paul Goodman (1911-1972) was a novelist, playwright, poet, psychotherapist, social critic, and activist on the pacifist Left in the 1960s. He wrote a number of books such as 'Growing Up Absurd: Problems of Youth in the Organized System,' 'New Reformation: Notes of a Neolithic Conservative,' 'Compulsory Mis-Education and the Community of Scholars.,' etc. This book was published posthumously in 1977.
He describes the libertarian as "rather a millenarian than an utopian." (Pg. 3) Decentralization is not lack or order or organization, but "a different kind of coordination." (Pg. 185)
He states that it is important to understand that modern urbanization is not a result of technological advance; "Indeed, the thrust of modern technology has been against urbanization... automation implies, if anything, the concentration of a great plant in a small space with a few workers..." (Pg. 62)
He advises, "I do not myself think that we will turn away from science. In spite of the fantasies of hippies, we are going to continue to live in a technological world; the question is, is that viable?" (Pg. 231)
This book will be of interest to those who like Goodman's other books.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews