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Philip Rieff
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The Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith after Freud Paperback – November 20, 2006

by Philip Rieff (Author), Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn (Introduction)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 101 ratings
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Since its publication in 1966, The Triumph of the Therapeutic has been hailed as a work of genuine brilliance, one of those books whose insights uncannily anticipate cultural developments and whose richness of argumentation reorients entire fields of inquiry. This special fortieth-anniversary edition of Philip Rieff’s masterpiece, the first volume in ISI Books’ new Background series, includes an introduction by Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn and essays on the text by historians Eugene McCarraher and Wilfred McClay and philosopher Stephen Gardner.
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  1. Print length
    325 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Intercollegiate Studies Institute
  4. Publication date
    November 20, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1932236805
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1932236804
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip Rieff is Benjamin Franklin Professor of Sociology and University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. One of the foremost cultural thinkers of his generation, his books include Freud: The Mind of the Moralist; Fellow Teachers; and The Feeling Intellect. He is also the editor of the ten-volume Collected Papers of Sigmund Freud.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Intercollegiate Studies Institute; 1st edition (November 20, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 325 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1932236805
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1932236804
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.02 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 101 ratings

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Philip Rieff

Philip Rieff

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
101 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

derek easley
5.0 out of 5 stars So, this is how we got here
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2019
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This was an outstanding book. The rampant individualism is obvious in our culture. What’s less obvious is how it started. This book really opened my eyes to see how we got to the place we’re in today.

It’s not an easy read. But it’s well worth the effort.
15 people found this helpful
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George M. Plasterer
5.0 out of 5 stars Here is one of the classics in the analysis of ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2015
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Here is one of the classics in the analysis of culture. Although the text is dated, I find it interesting that many of the observations remain accurate. In particular, it would seem as if the desire never to offend, under the banner of political correctness, is part of the trajectory of the psychological citizen as over against the therapy of commitment, which commits you to participation in culture in a positive way. His analysis of Freud and Jung are worth the book.
20 people found this helpful
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Steveareeno
4.0 out of 5 stars Unnecessarily complicated prose
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2022
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I’m giving this book a 4 star rating only because I have understood it’s thesis from other sources. However, the author’s writing style is unnecessarily complex. When you have to spend 15 minutes trying to decipher each sentence, it makes for very tedious and frustrating reading.

A sample sentence from the book:

“Every culture must establish itself as a system of moralizing demands, images that mark the trail of each man’s memory; thus to distinguish right actions from wrong the inner ordinances are set, by which men are guided in there conduct so as to assure a mutual security of contact.”

I suspect what Rieff is trying to covey here is that culture establishes boundaries on behavior (right and wrong) so that men can feel secure in their interactions with each other. Honestly though, I don’t know if that’s what he’s saying. If it was, why couldn’t he have just said it that way? And what does “images that mark the trail of each man’s memory” even mean? Is he saying that these moralizing demands are imprinted on the mind of men and act as a guide?

And believe me, this was one of the more comprehensible sentences. I don’t believe the subject is nearly as complicated as the book makes it appear, I think it’s the writing style of the author more than anything.
17 people found this helpful
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Bobby
5.0 out of 5 stars Very thoughtful
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2021
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This book will prompt you to think and reason, and is very relevant to the events going on in the United States today.
One person found this helpful
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Dale E. Matson
5.0 out of 5 stars special book
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2017
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This book is not an easy read but it is insightful and instructive.
3 people found this helpful
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Walter R Steele
5.0 out of 5 stars A True Classic
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2014
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If you want to read a classic in Psychology of Religion, this book is a must read. The decades have not reduced its importance.
4 people found this helpful
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Peter Uys
4.0 out of 5 stars The ties that bind
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2005
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 .
108 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Hanniel
5.0 out of 5 stars 50 Jahre alte Analyse einer Reorientierung: Der Triumpfzug des Therapeutischen
Reviewed in Germany on May 3, 2017
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*** Ich investierte zwei Stunden, um einen Eindruck des Buches zu gewinnen. ***

Die Therapeuten sind die Priester der Religion des Selbst. Rieff schrieb dies vor 50 Jahren. Angestossen durch dieses Buch entwickelte ich folgende Typisierung:

1. Das Ideal
Ich bin Autor und Gestalter auf der privaten Bühne meines Lebens. Dort soll mir eine lebenslange, möglichst ungestörte, sorgenfreie und natürlich unterhaltsame Dauervorstellung geboten werden.

2. Was steht schief?
Alles, was diese Erfüllung stört, muss beseitigt werden.
Eine Spezialkategorie dieser Störung stellen diejenigen dar, die behaupten, es gebe eine absolute Wahrheit. Im christlichen Bereich sind es die Verfechter von Dogmen.

3. Wie können die Probleme beseitigt werden?
Entdecke und durchforste dein Inneres. Führe dir vor Augen, wie genial du bist.
Wenn du zu deiner inneren Stimmigkeit zurückgefunden hast, dann feiere dies. Lasse das Eigene triumphieren!

4. Was ist das schlimmste Vergehen?
Sich selbst untreu zu sein und
andere zu stören und sie dadurch zu verletzen.

5. Warum gibt es andere Menschen?
Sie sind Erfüllungsgehilfen meiner eigenen Bedürfnisse.
Falls ich dies willentlich eingehe, können sie auch Nutzniesser meiner Anstrengungen sein. Der Lohn dafür ist das Geliebtwerden.

6. Wer ist Gott und wer sind seine Priester?
Das Ich ist die oberste Instanz. Es geht um mich.
Berater und Therapeuten übernehmen streckenweise (bei Verunsicherung innerhalb dieser Grundorientierung) die Funktion des Sorgers.

7. Welche Funktion hat Leid?
Es erzeugt Druck zur Veränderung und setzt Energie frei, die Störfaktoren zu beseitigen.
Leid funktioniert als Katalysator.

8. Wie wird diese therapeutische Religion finanziert?
Durch Zeit, die zulasten der Erwerbsarbeit geht;
falls das private Einkommen nicht ausreicht, springt der Staat als Ersatz ein.
8 people found this helpful
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Neil Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2017
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bought for a present - recipient loves it.
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Carlos Fidalgo
5.0 out of 5 stars Un clásico
Reviewed in Spain on June 30, 2014
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El libro de Rieff es un clásico, muy desconocido en Europa sobre todo. Muestra cómo la verborrea psicológico - psiquiátrica en muchas ocasiones ha invadido el terreno de la ética y la moralidad. Se puede estar o no de acuerdo pero el análisis es sólido.
One person found this helpful
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