The Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith after Freud (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The religious question: How are we to be consoled for the misery of living?..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Philip Rieff has become out most learned and provocative critic of psychoanalytic thinking and of the compelling mind and character of its first proponent. Rieff's Freud: The Mind of the Moralist remains the sharpest exegesis yet to be done on the moral and intellectual implications of Freud's work. It was a critical masterpiece, worthy of the man who inspired it; and it is now followed by a work that suffers not at all in comparison. No review can do justice to the richness of The Triumph of the Therapeutic."—Robert Coles, New York Times Book Review

"A triumphantly successful exploration of certain key themes in cultural life. Rieff's incidental remarks are not only illuminating in themselves; they suggest whole new areas of inquiry."—Alasdair MacIntyre, Guardian

About the Author

Philip Rieff is the Benjamin Franklin Professor of Sociology and University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Freud: The Mind and the Moralist, Fellow Teachers: Of Culture and Its Second Death, and The Feeling Intellect, all available from the University of Chicago Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (March 15, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226716465
• ISBN-13: 978-0226716466
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,037,232 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The ties that bind, August 6, 2005

By	Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

In this brilliant work Philip Rieff expands on his first book on Freud, The Mind Of The Moralist. He looks at the moral aspects of the writings of Freud, Carl Jung, Wilhelm Reich and DH Lawrence, in which he sees the birth of Psychological Man and the victory of relativism. He observes that psychoanalysis was instrumental in breaking down standards of morality and undermining religion. But in the 19th century, rationalism had already weakened Christianity in its heartland. The negative trends that replaced it contain no positive symbolism and above all, require no commitment.

Rieff does not deny the obvious literary genius of these authors and thinkers but rejects their respective faiths of the inner God, hedonism and impulse. Defining faith as "the compulsive dynamic of culture," Rieff does not think that any of the aforementioned substitutes has what it takes to serve as integrating factor for Western culture. They lack the binding force of commitment, enhance hedonist tendencies and undermine virtue. The feeling of the individual is exalted over the virtuous as a measure of value. This matter is brilliantly examined by Theodore Dalrymple in Our Culture, What's Left of It.

He argues that the negation of concepts like good and evil has become the foundation upon which personality is formed. The dangers are obvious. The therapeutic society provides an easy, feel-good substitute to religion that severs the roots, leading to selective morality and shamelessness. I'm not so sure about his criticism of Jung's version of the immanence of God - an ancient concept present in most major religions - but it cannot be denied that the idea encourages New Age drivel, fake spirituality and gross superstition.

The Triumph Of The Therapeutic is a brilliant study of faith, psychology and culture and the ties between them, whether one always agrees with the author or not. The writing style is elegant with many a bon mot and memorable turn of phrase. Rieff's observations and predictions are today confirmed by the situation in Europe where the civilizational crisis is most evident. Birthrates have fallen, unassimilated immigrant communities have created two societies in many cities whilst the intelligentsia cling to a false ideology of pacifism that masks resentment at powerlessness and in some instances becomes complicit with evil.

This European malaise is very thoroughly examined, from various angles, by Bruce Bawer in While Europe Slept, Claire Berlinski in Menace in Europe, Walter Laqueur in The Last Days of Europe and Chantal Delsol in Icarus Fallen.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the slog, March 21, 2009

By	David Greusel "urban architect" (Kansas City, MO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith after Freud (Background: Essential Texts for the Conservative Mind) (Paperback)

I'll be honest with you...Philip Reiff is not an easy read. But he's well worth it. This book takes on Freud and some of his (ironically) patricidal disciples, showing how Freud was instrumental in the dismantling of faith as the organizing principle of culture. In its place, we have "psychological man," whose only organizing principle is self-fulfillment. It's not hard to see where that leads: a culture adrift, pleasure-seeking individuals heedless of the needs of community, and so on. Reiff is such an incisive critic of our present situation that the only theory I have for his not being more widely read and cited is that he's just too darn hard to read. But don't let that stop you.

2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Gift, January 19, 2008

By	Dorothy Cavin "Susan" - See all my reviews

Hard-to-find book and our son-in-law has really enjoyed it. Great service. Book arrives just in time for Christmas.