The Drive for Self: Alfred Adler and the Founding of Individual Psychology [Paperback]

Edward Hoffman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1997

0-8133-1027-X the Soviet Nationality Reader : the Disintegration in Context

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The earliest of Freud's adherents to break away and form his own system of psychological theory, Adler is responsible for such common concepts as the inferiority complex, the importance of birth order, and the "spoiled" child. Despite the fact that his central notion-that we humans develop from an innate desire to interact with others-is far more central to contemporary psychology than is Freud's idea of libidinal drives, no major biography of Adler has been written, perhaps because he did not establish a cohesive school of followers. Unfortunately, this book does not completely fill this gap. Perhaps because Adler was a talker, not a writer, Hoffman's study does not convey much sense of the man, nor does it systematically describe his theories. Josef Rattner's Alfred Adler (LJ 5/1/83) and Manes Soerber's Masks of Loneliness: Alfred Adler in Perspective (Macmillan, 1974) both offer more complete expositions of Adler's "individual psychology" accompanied by some biographical information. Not an essential purchase.
Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, Wash.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Although Alfred Adler's name is not as widely known as the man he was influenced by, Sigmund Freud, his work and ideas have shaped Western society's view of the mind. Birth order, the inferiority complex, lifestyle, and the pampered or spoiled child figure prominently in Adler's main postulates. Adler became closely associated with Freud, but irreconcilable differences eventually led to the parting of ways. Adler thought Freud's theories were too negative and hopeless, and believed that people have the inborn capacity for social feeling, for sharing among and with others. Hoffman (Visions of Innocence, 1992) offers a thorough biography of this important figure in psychology. Brian McCombie --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Perseus Books (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201441942
• ISBN-13: 978-0201441949
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,412,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adler Biography--the Best One, May 29, 2010

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Christopher B. Shay (Celebration, FL, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Drive for Self: Alfred Adler and the Founding of Individual Psychology (Hardcover)

The title says it all. Wait, no, the title says it's the best biography. So far as I know, it is also the only biography, in English, of Alfred Adler. Given Adler's enormous influence on American counseling and psychotherapy this is...peculiar. Adler himself is hardly a peripheral figure in the history of psychoanalysis, and this biography does his life justice. More information on exactly what it was he taught is better limned from other sources, notably his own (well, OK, he used a ghost writer) works, especially "Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler" by the Ansbachers, which is indispensable for making sense of Adler's evolving thought process. For most of us, Freud is the fallback position for mouthing generalities about the composition of the psyche. Here Freud's towering achievement is put in a new perspective. Adler, Freud's friend, his defender, his rival, and eventually, a despised heretic (to Freud), gets his due here as a founder of modern psychoanalytic practice, for better or worse.