Escaping the Self: Alcoholism, Spirituality, Masochism, and Other Flights from the Burden of Selfhood (Paperback)

by Roy F. Baumeister (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
A perceptive study of modern culture's overriding fascination with the self and identity. Baumeister (Psychology/Case Western Reserve Univ.) states that the history of the self in Western culture began by equating it simply with the physical body; the self has now grown to be regarded as vast, unique, important--containing personality traits, the wellsprings of creativity, the keys to personal fulfillment, and the solution to life's dilemmas (all of which is absurd to cultures that don't share our zealous faith in the inner self). The more inflated this self, Baumeister argues, the more burdensome it becomes: In the wake of calamity, or to escape its demands, people flee from it. For example, says Baumeister, bulimics, painfully preoccupied with themselves and the way they look to others, go on binges to escape their tyrannical self- images. During a binge, meaningful thought is abandoned for a narrow focus on immediate sensations; the troubled self disappears from awareness by becoming preoccupied with one cookie after another. In masochism--most common among successful, individualistic people at the top of the socioeconomic hierarchy- -the competent, virtuous, energetic, and decisive selves these people maintain are gratefully relinquished by submission to the master. And, through pain, the self is reduced to the body, and the world is shrunk to one's immediate surroundings. Baumeister notes that the cult of self-esteem--which has so raised people's expectations and obligations (looking better, making love better, success at work, play, dieting and saying clever things)--will be dangerous in the long run as they try, through aberrant behaviors, to escape this self-imposed despotism. And perhaps self-esteem in itself is not always desirable. ``Weren't self- importance and overconfidence two of the factors that embroiled the US in Vietnam?'' Baumeister asks. Well written in nontechnical language; unique and persuasive. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Presents a new view of the darker side of human nature. America's concern with self-fulfilment and personal identity has become a burden for many people. Overwhelmed by the demands of creating and maintaining a positive self-image, some are turning to potentially dangerous escapist practices.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465020542
• ISBN-13: 978-0465020546
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,067,060 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALCOHOL, FOOD, DRUGS, MASOCHISM, WHATEVER YOUR DRUG,..., June 30, 2001

By	"dh23492" (Cullowhee, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Escaping the Self: Alcoholism, Spirituality, Masochism, and Other Flights from the Burden of Selfhood (Hardcover)

Whatever your drug of choice, read this! An amazing theorist and scientist who is an aclaimed social psychologist and accomplished writer. Roy Baumeister has taskled issues that are relevant to all of us. He is able to concisely express his theories regarding the actions of the human species...Essentially the "why" of what we do what we do. A great read for anyone, but especially valuable for those interested in psychology and people in general. An essential tool to the "future-counselor." A must read!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Scientific Existentialism, August 1, 2004

By	Coriolanus Scotchmiglo "Exo-Psyche-Sound Conj... (Inside of Multiple Universes, Existence, NA) - See all my reviews

"Escaping the Self" is a manifestly brilliant work of social psychology and social criticism. Reading the book, I recapture the feelings of insight that originally attracted me to psychology.

The main idea of the book is that many difficult to explain behaviors, such as masochism and suicide, result from a need to escape - and that this need to escape is very specific escape from self-consciousness. Baumeister goes into detail about the various motivations for this need to escape and how they motivate different forms of escape, and also details social trends that have magnified the burden of escape from the self.

This is in many ways the kind of book I would love to write. Baumeister is able to see the implicitly accepted dogmas and flaws of the culture he lives in, much like a Nietzsche, before they are generally recognized. It's interesting that this work is out of print now - and the idea not generally appreciated by those who could best put it to work. This pattern occurs with many 'heretical' thinkers. And since the works details more the downside of our obsession with self - something we do not recognize as a choice, or something unusual - this might explain the book's status.

Easily the most interesting social/behavioral science book I have read in a long time - it also opens many new avenues for scholarship to the careful reader. Highly reccomended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An escape from science, March 29, 2005

By	calmly - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Escaping the Self: Alcoholism, Spirituality, Masochism, and Other Flights from the Burden of Selfhood (Hardcover)

So what is the self? Baumeister has an early section by that title. but his response hardly seems a clear definition. It would seem that over 2,000 years ago, Buddhism gave more thought to what the self was. And Buddhism is not scientific. One would expect a modern social scientist could do better. "Self can be understood to be a physical entity overlaid with meaning". Seem clear? Seem scientific? Baumeiser is never precise about what "self" is. He overloads it with attributions. It's self-esteem, self-control, self-image,self-whatever-its-convenient-to-call-it-at-the-moment. You know what he means. Don't you?

After all, it is what we are all escaping from, supposedly.

Baumeister discusses some behaviors: suicide, masochism, alcoholism, binge eating and religous exercise. These he asserts are evidence of escaping from the self. Rather than introduce you to these behaviors first so that you could see how the idea of "escape from the self" is derived, he talks about these in the latter half of the book. After he has elaborated on how the self he hardly defines can be a burden and how escape from whatever that self is generally works. He does this as a speculative exercise, asserting what takes place, with little or no experimental support presented. When he discusses the behaviors such as suicide and masochism, he only says a little bit about each one before asserting (a lot) how each demonstrates an "escape from the self".

Saying that it would be "reckless to try to explain all forms of behavior by ... by the notion of escaping the self", he proceeds to note as escapes such activities as distance running, surfing, skiing, and being a sports fan". So he's viewing a lot as possible "escape from self". And with the self not well defined and with escape not well defined, it becomes hard to say why he would view one behavior as an escape and not another.

"Playing a game may provide escape in the sense that one abandons consideration of one's normal identity and submerges awareness in the game". So how does Baumeister see that someone else is doing all that?

I thought science depended on good definitions, good experiments and thorough analysis, so the escape I recommend is escaping this book. Alcoholism, suicide, masochism, binge eating and spirital exercises seem behaviors worth better analysis. Even if these are "escapes from self", what then to do about each? I didn't find that addressed. Baumeister seemed content having asserted each was an escape.