Beyond Psychology (Paperback)

by Otto Rank (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A plea for the acceptance of the irrational element in man as the most vital part of human life. Rank discusses the ultimates—psychological concepts which go beyond the individual’s makeup, such as fear of death, desire for immortality, sexuality, and the need for love—and the institutions which support these concepts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 291 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (June 1, 1958)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486204855
• ISBN-13: 978-0486204857
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #661,793 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond Brilliant, July 27, 2003

By	Herbert L Calhoun "paulocal" (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Rank proves the truth of the thesis that a teacher has done his job when he becomes the student. This tour de force on Freudian psychological thought extends the bounds beyond anything that Freud, his teacher and mentor could have ever imagined himself.

Every sentence is lucid and compelling.

This book sparkles and speaks mostly to man's fears and irrationalities. But it does not try to exorcise or explan them away. For the first time a theory accepts them both as integral parts of the fabric of the human condition. The treatment of ideologies alone is worth the price of ten books, but there is more, a lot more: on creativity, social organization, human personality, etc. Ten stars!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Embracing the paradox ..., August 16, 2005

By	Clement Wether (Shifting between places, periodically) - See all my reviews

The odd thing with both Freud & Lacan is that, having promoted the notion of the unconscious in all its vicissitudes & unknowability, they then proceed to map & double-guess it. The result, in short, a 'rule-book' for the unconscious.

Rank makes no such mistake ... he prods & weaves, essays & intuits, but never reduces the vagueries to maps, schemas or graphs ... on the contrary, Rank discerns & celebrates the paradoxical character of the godworm.

He's not an easy read, but a necessary one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and overwhelmingly eye-opening!, August 4, 2007

By	M. Schott (fresno, ca) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rank is one of those psychologists/authors that addressed issues most others are too anxious to discuss, hence the reason, in my opinion, he is not as "popular" (in relative terms) as other psychologists.

At times, tough to understand, but definitely worth the read!