Customer Reviews

The Discovery of Being: Writings in Existential Psychology

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This is the most succinct and authoritative introduction to existential psychology and psychotherapy currently available. It contains a variety of May's pithy and penetrating essays on the subject, including his introductory chapter to the classic collection EXISTENCE (1958) that first conveyed the tenets of European existential analysis across the Atlantic to America. When I teach courses on existential psychotherapy, this is one of the titles I like to include as required reading.

Think: Loneliness and Isolation

"...the whole existential approach is rooted in the always curious phenomenon that we have in man a being who not only can but must, if he is to realize himself, question his own being."

The Discovery of Being -- Writings in Existential Psychology -- by Rollo May is a superior introduction to Existential Psychology. If one is concerned with the causes of loneliness and isolation, in the human being -- which is also a major theme of the Existentialist school of thought -- this book is an excellent place to start. The Discovery of Being is a brisk, unclouded read. Stimulating would be an understatement, to say the least.

For those interested in how Existential Psychology applies to Existentialism and Phenomenology, there is a section dealing with Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Freud...as background material. Other interest peaking sections that I enjoyed: How Existentialism and Psychoanalysis Arose out of the Same Cultural Situation, To Be and Not to Be, Anxiety and Guilt as Ontological, Being in the World, and The Three Modes of World. That should be enough to whet one's appetite. --Katharena Eiermann, 2005, the Realm of Existentialism -- Presidential Hopeful

Rollo May provides in this book a good introduction to existential psychotherapy. He clearly introduces the central concepts of existentialism and provides wonderful insight into human beings from that perspective. What makes this book especially appealing is the fact that May writes in an incredibly readable manner about sometimes quite obtuse information. I recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about existentialism, existential psychology, and, in particular, existential psychotherapy.

I've found Rollo May's treatment of the precursors and pivotal events which led to a recognizable school of philosophy and psychotherapy to be very understandable, readable and engaging. He writes in a style that pulls you into the philosophical debate and is adept at explaining the various contentions so that a casual reader of these texts can easily understand and follow the debate. It's a great primer that should lead to further readings in existentialism inspired by the bibliographical references!

Rollo May is the most insightful psychotherapist to ever write. I am a philosopher, not a psychologist, yet I find myself thrown into the position of [religious & philosophical] counselor time & time again. This book reaffirms what I have encountered repeatedly and have coined "suburban psychosis", or the psychological problems of the healthy person. This book provides a much better model for understanding human anxiety and happiness than the mere behavioual models adopted by our modern "qualified" therapists. I reccomend this to everyone--not just therapists, counselors, and clergy. The truths revealed in this book are gems; they will become precious to you and only gain in value over time.

This book definitely had interesting, controversial and new ideas that helped me fine-tune my own thoughts about humanitiy and psychology. There are paragraphs within that are of great value . Nevertheless, this book is poorly written. It lacks idea and paragraph cohesion and often explains new terms and topics loosely and incompletely (which Rollo justifies through the inherent vagueness of the existensial approach). Bottom line: I really didn't mind investing $12, the book's general impact was worth it.

Although Rollo May is a celebrated existential author, I found this book to be tedious. Since I was hoping that there would be a good section on the clinical application of existentialism, I was sorely disappointed to find out that there was only 20 pages dedicated to the issue. Not only that, the section did not include any examples of commonly used existential techniques. The section on the history of existential psychology was somewhat interesting. Overall, however, I rate this book mediocre at best.

The book was delivered to me complete and in the condition that it was sold to me in. I would recommend and use this seller for future transactions.