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Book cover of Anger, Madness, And The Daimonic
Psychoanalytical Psychology, Creativity, Abuse & Violence - Psychology, Behavior Disorders, Social Psychology, Behavioral Psychology, Philosophy - General & Miscellaneous, Stress & Anxiety Management - Self-Help, Self-Improvement, Emotions - Psychology, C

Anger, Madness, And The Daimonic

by Stephen A Diamond, Rollo May
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Overview

In this book, clinical psychologist Stephen A. Diamond determines where anger and rage originate and explores whether these powerful passions are - as most people believe - purely negative, pathological, and evil or can be meaningfully redeemed and rechanneled into constructive activity. What is the psychobiological significance of such feelings? And what is the psychological link between anger, rage, violence, evil, and creativity? Drawing on the discoveries of depth psychologists such as Freud, Jung, Adler, Rank, Reich, and Rollo May, as well as the work of other contemporary psychotherapeutic pioneers, Diamond examines these timely yet eternal questions.

Synopsis

In this book, clinical psychologist Stephen A. Diamond determines where anger and rage originate and explores whether these powerful passions are - as most people believe - purely negative, pathological, and evil or can be meaningfully redeemed and rechanneled into constructive activity. What is the psychobiological significance of such feelings? And what is the psychological link between anger, rage, violence, evil, and creativity? Drawing on the discoveries of depth psychologists such as Freud, Jung, Adler, Rank, Reich, and Rollo May, as well as the work of other contemporary psychotherapeutic pioneers, Diamond examines these timely yet eternal questions.

Journal of Analytical Psychology

Powerful....[F]ascinating....[Diamond] conducts a critical audit of the contemporary American zeitgeist, cataloguing examples of the epidemic of 'senseless' violence and of antagonism between the sexes. He asks what produces serial killers, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Bobbitt castration case, the O.J. Simpson murder trial, and explores more generally the male response to the rise of feminist anger....[E]njoyable, extremely readable and accessible....[A] sincere, thought-provoking contribution to an important subject.

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Editorials

Contemporary Psychology

In this remarkable book, Stephen Diamond follows the work of his mentor, Rollo May (1969), in focusing on the ancient Greek idea of the 'daimonic' which he distinguishes from the 'demonic'....Diamond stresses the dual nature of the daimonic and the failure of modern society to distinguish it from the wholly evil demonic as a factor in two, for Diamond, linked problems: first, the rampant outbursts of violence...,and second, the failures of contemporary cost-effective psychotherapies to address those forces in the human being that evoke antisocial behavior and at the same time have the capacity to free up the same individual's deepest creative energy.

Ernest Becker Foundation Newsletter

[A] comprehensive, [very valuable] work detailing the powers for good and evil of which humans are capable....[Diamond] presents disturbing and insightful biographies of Kipling, Melville..., van Gogh, Wright, Beethoven, and Bergman, each wrestling with their personal daimons through the creative process....His cataloguing of the history of the phenomenology of the unconscious--from medieval beliefs that the voices people heard were demons or angels, to Freud's Id, to Jung's Shadow--is both brilliant and an indispensable resource for every student of human personality.

Journal of Analytical Psychology

Powerful....[F]ascinating....[Diamond] conducts a critical audit of the contemporary American zeitgeist, cataloguing examples of the epidemic of 'senseless' violence and of antagonism between the sexes. He asks what produces serial killers, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Bobbitt castration case, the O.J. Simpson murder trial, and explores more generally the male response to the rise of feminist anger....[E]njoyable, extremely readable and accessible....[A] sincere, thought-provoking contribution to an important subject.

Psychoanalytic Books

[R]ecommended.... [Dr. Diamond] . . . draws on the discoveries of Freud, Jung, Adler, Rank, Reich, and Rollo May, as well as cultural and religious myths, to discuss with impressive scholarship and insight the origins and psychodynamics of destructive people.

Book Details

Published
February 1, 1999
Publisher
State University of New York Press
Pages
440
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780791430767

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