Love and Will (Paperback)

by Rollo May (Author) "The striking thing about love and will in our day is that, whereas in the past they were always held up to us as the..." (more)
Key Phrases: new sophisticate, schizoid world, blind push, William James, Our Schizoid World, Communion of Consciousness (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
A book to study and cherish, for those daring enough to study and cherish our human heritage and potential. -- San Francisco Examiner

The implications of this distinguished book for education and culture are profound. -- Harvard Educational Review

This volume—written in a brilliant and impeccable style—is an excellent analysis of life and love in the modern period. -- Chicago Sun-Times

Wise, rich, witty and indispensable....It should have led any list of important books. -- John Leonard, New York Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
The heart of the dilemma of modern man is our failure to understand the real meanings of love and will, their sources and their interrelations. In bringing fresh insight and interpretation to these concepts, May shows how we can attain a deeper consciousness.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Delta (June 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385285906
• ISBN-13: 978-0385285902
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #750,139 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eros transforms us, August 1, 2004

By	C. B Collins Jr. (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I read this book in graduate school in 1973 and then again 30 years later. When I was a young man I had not had enough experience with Eros to understand the book. I knew I wished to do great deeds but I did not know the source from which these thoughts emerged. Now, in the second reading, I recognize the forces of Eros in my past and present and recognize the need to integrate the daemonic or shadow to fully harness these forces.

The central thesis of the book is that Eros, the life force, directs our Will toward our highest potential. Rollo May asserts that hate is not the opposite of love, apathy and disinterest is. The opposite of will is not indecision - but rather May sees it as detachment. May's central thesis is that Eros (Love) is the fundamental energy behind Will. Eros is the force that drives men to seek God. Eros is the spirit of life and is not to be confused with the sex drive. Rollo May points out that the sex drive seeks satisfaction and release of tension whereas Eros drives us outward. Much of the first half of the book carefully explains the similarities and differences between the sex drive and Eros, the life force. Primarily May sees sexuality as a drive reduction process, similar to the learning theorists Clark Hull and James B Watson. Eros, however, is the creator, forever reaching out, seeking to expand. As Paul Tillich says "A movement from the potential to the actual" and "vitality is the power of creating beyond oneself without losing oneself." Eros is the power from which we do not want release but rather to be prolonged, to form the world. Eros drives us to go beyond ourselves, to transcend ourselves, to reach ethical goodness, to seek truth and beauty. May connects his theories to St. Augustine, Freud, Maslow, Joseph Campbell, and Plato; all of whom belived that love is the fundamental human experience; pervades all our actions, and is the deepest motivating force. Freud further believed that all civilizations are created by the disciplining and re-direction of the forces of Eros. Rollo May, the therapist, points out that the task is not only to recognize our own power but to recognize the self aggrandizement that accompanies all human endeavor in this realm of power and love. May is similar to Jung in the concept of recognition of the shadow or daemonic as a guide to the self as well as a path toward integration and concentrated power and life force. Referring back to Harry Stack Sullivan, May points out that we can only love others to the extent that we can love ourselves. What is it like to be someone who has harnessed the power of Eros? May quotes Hegel: "Socrates, like all heroes who cause new worlds to rise and inescapably the old one to disintegrate was experienced as a threat; what he fought for is a new form which breaks through and undermines the exisiting world."

I think the reader may find that the works of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung further inform May's thesis. I strongly recommend the book to those who study mythology, philosophy, and psychology.

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars May's magnum opus, November 20, 1999

By	dr. (Dr. Stephen Diamond, author of ANGER, MADNESS, AND THE DAIMONIC from Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

LOVE AND WILL is probably Rollo May's best book, his magnum opus. It was published in 1969, when May--by then one of the most prominent psychologists on the American scene--was sixty-years old. And, despite its intelligence and psychological sophistication, it became a best-seller. Central to this praiseworthy work are chapters 5 & 6, in which Dr. May introduces (presaging James Hillman) his radical concept of "the daimonic." Any person concerned with the so-called senseless violence so prevalent at the close of the millennium would do well to have a look at these stunning, seminal chapters. Also of interest, especially to psychotherapists, is May's erudite discussion of "intentionality" a little later on. Though May's treatment of some subjects might be slightly dated, there is much here to be strongly recommended, especially for students and other readers who appreciate substantial books such as Ernest Becker's THE DENIAL OF DEATH.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anyone wishing to truly comprehend love must read this book!, July 12, 1998

By A Customer

Simply stated, this is the most intelligent book I have ever read. Rollo May goes to extrordinary lengths to dissect the misunderstood concept of love. He traces love from the Greeks to modern day. Each page challenges the reader to rethink his/her superficial understanding of love. The author's case studies from his own psychoanalytic practice provide relevant examples of how the values of modern society have reduced love to a physical act of gratification. Anyone interested in improving themselves as a human being must read this very challenging and thought provoking book.