Betrayal of the Self: The Fear of Autonomy in Men and Women (English and German Edition) - Hardcover

Arno Gruen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802110177 ISBN 13: 9780802110176

Publisher: Grove Press, 1988

Synopsis

Explains the characteristics of psychological autonomy, argues that the lack of this personal integration is the root of human evil, and discusses the nature of true humanity

About this title

Language Notes:

Text: English, German (translation)

From Publishers Weekly:

One of Gruen's debatable findings in this provocative study is that men, cut off from their feelings, are far more oppressed than women. In both sexes, asserts this Swiss-based psychoanalyst, a false, inauthentic self develops as the obedient child learns to deny its own impulses. He argues that the drive for power, for control over oneself and others, chokes off true self-knowledge. Men become robot-like as they plot their lives in terms of abstract concepts; women who identify with powerful males mythologize themselves. Gruen's mapping of the flight from self may sound familiar to readers of Erich Fromm, yet he offers fresh insights fleshed out with examples drawn from politics, literature, therapy sessions and the news. He ties the personal context to the social diseases of mass conformity, worship of material success and overvaluation of intellect.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0802110177
• ISBN 13: 9780802110176
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 154