Dignity is humanity's most prized possession. We experience the loss of dignity as a terrible humiliation: when we lose our dignity we feel deprived of something without which life no longer seems worth living. But what exactly is this trait that we value so highly?In this important new book, distinguished philosopher Peter Bieri looks afresh at the notion of human dignity. In contrast to most traditional views, he argues that dignity is not an innate quality of human beings or a r...

“Without self-esteem, the only change is an exchange of masters; with it, there is no need for masters.” —Gloria SteinemWhen trying to find books to give to “the countless brave and smart women I met who didn’t think of themselves as either brave or smart,” Gloria Steinem realized that books either supposed that external political change would cure everything or that internal change would. None linked internal and external change together in a seamless circle of ca...

An examination of childhood trauma and its surreptitious, debilitating effects by one of the world's leading psychoanalysts.Never before has world-renowned psychoanalyst Alice Miller examined so persuasively the long-range consequences of childhood abuse on the body. Using the experiences of her patients along with the biographical stories of literary giants such as Virginia Woolf, Franz Kafka, and Marcel Proust, Miller shows how a child's humiliation, impotence, and bottled rage w...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A transformative guide to reconnecting with and harnessing your authentic self so you can lead a more fulfilled, complete life, from the world-renowned former director of the Jung Institute“A brilliant and absorbing work . . . [James] Hillman dares us to believe we are each meant to be here, that we are needed by the world around us.”—Publishers WeeklyPlato called it “daimon,” the Romans “gen...

Working with the Shadow is not working with evil, per se. It is working toward the possibility of greater wholeness. We will never experience healing until we can come to love our unlovable places, for they, too, ask love of us.How is it that good people do bad things? Why is our personal story and our societal history so bloody, so repetitive, so injurious to self and others?How do we make sense of the discrepancies between who we think we are—or who we sh...

For centuries, philosophers, theologians, moralists, and ordinary people have asked: How should we live? What makes for a good life? In The Best Things in Life, distinguished philosopher Thomas Hurka takes a fresh look at these perennial questions as they arise for us now in the 21st century. Should we value family over career? How do we balance self-interest and serving others? What activities bring us the most joy? While religion, literature, popular psychology, and everyday wis...

“[Alice Miller] illuminates the dark corners of child abuse as few other scholars have done.”—Jordan Riak, NoSpank.netSince the landmark publication of The Drama of the Gifted Child, no one has been more influential than Alice Miller in empowering adults whose lives were maimed emotionally and physically as children. Now Dr. Miller goes even further, presenting groundbreaking theories that enhance communication between therapist and patient and enable the adult to...

"Analyzes life as we are living it, and the analysis is truthful and profound."--New York TimesLoneliness, boredom, emptiness: These are the complaints that Rollo May encountered over and over from his patients. In response, he probes the hidden layers of personality to reveal the core of man's integration--a basic and inborn sense of value. Man's Search for Himself is an illuminating view of our predicament in an age of overwhelming anxieties and gives guidance o...

In this unique blend of self-help and moral philosophy, perfect for fans of Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project or Dan Harris’s 10% Happier, talk-radio host Dennis Prager shows us that happiness isn’t just a value—it’s a moral obligation.When you ask people about their most cherished values, “happiness” is always at the top of the list. In this enduring happiness manifesto, Prager examines how happiness not only makes us better people, but has ...

When The Culture of Narcissism was first published, it was clear that Christopher Lasch had identified something important: what was happening to American society in the wake of the decline of the family over the last century.The book quickly became a bestseller. This edition includes a new afterword, "The Culture of Narcissism Revisited."

A polemic against love that is “engagingly acerbic ... extremely funny.... A deft indictment of the marital ideal, as well as a celebration of the dissent that constitutes adultery, delivered in pointed daggers of prose” (The New Yorker).Who would dream of being against love? No one. Love is, as everyone knows, a mysterious and all-controlling force, with vast power over our thoughts and life decisions.But is there something a bit worrisome about a...

Erving Goffman effectively extends his argument in favor of a diagnosis of deviant behavior which takes account of the whole social situation.