The Act of Living: What the Great Psychologists Can Teach Us About Finding Fulfillment

by Frank Tallis

Overview

Life and its meaning is a mystery almost impossible to solve, but what can the leading theories teach us about the search for purpose?


For most of us, the major questions of life continue to perplex: Who am I? Why am I here? How should I live? In the late nineteenth century, a class of thinkers emerged who made solving these problems central to their work. They understood that human questions demand human answers and that without understanding what it means to be human, there are no answers.


Through the biographies and theories of luminaries ranging from Sigmund Freud to Erich Fromm, Frank Tallis show us how to think about companionship and parenting, identity and aging, and much more. Accessible yet erudite, The Act of Living is essential reading for anyone seeking answers to life's biggest questions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541673038
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	07/07/2020
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	1,039,237
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Frank Tallis is a clinical psychologist and the author of over fifteen books, including The Incurable Romantic: And Other Tales of Madness and Desire. He previously taught clinical psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King's College, London. He lives in London and Bonnieux, France.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Talking: Leaving the Silent Theater 21

2 Security: Primal Needs 45

3 Insight: The Heart Has Its Reasons 73

4 Distortion: Warped Mirrors 93

5 Identity: The Divided Self 119

6 Narrative: Life Story 143

7 Narcissism: Gazing into the Pool 161

8 Sex: Mortal Vehicles 181

9 Inferiority: The Consolations of Inadequacy 199

10 Wants: The Acquisition Trap 209

11 Adversity: Rooted Sorrows 221

12 Meaning: Reasons to Exist 247

13 Acceptance: A Flower That Blossoms Only for a Single Night 269

Conclusion 285

Picture Credits 301

Acknowledgments 303

Notes and References 305

Index 317

Editorial Reviews

2020-05-10
An earnest attempt to expand psychoanalysis from an approach to mental illness to an explanation of the human condition.

Clinical psychologist Tallis writes that during the 1920s, Freud himself asserted that psychoanalysis was more than a medical specialty. He maintained that, besides treating psychiatric disorders, its ideas could “show how the mind functions, how minds relate to each other, and how minds operate within cultures. They can also…answer questions concerning ideal ways to live…that have been debated since ancient times.” Freud was more prescient than he realized. The 20th-century psychoanalytic doctrines of Freud, Jung, and others, which emphasize the recovery of unconscious memories and primitive desires, have proven to have few practical insights regarding the treatment of severe mental illnesses, but they remain a major influence in literature and the arts. Tallis works hard to give them the benefit of the doubt and shows equal confidence in the two other major psychoanalytic schools: the humanistic-existential, which stresses autonomy, authenticity, and achieving personal growth; and the cognitive-behavioral, which aims to correct harmful learning experiences and dysfunctional beliefs. In a dozen lucid chapters, the author discusses human needs (security, acceptance, identity, sex) and the consequences when they are not met (adversity, inferiority, narcissism). The result is less a work of philosophy than a vivid history of the psychoanalytic schools, their often equally colorful founders (“they tested their theories by experimenting with alternative lifestyles and altered states of consciousness; they followed their patients into madness; they were like explorers, venturing into the unknown. And inevitably, some of them paid a very high price”), and their conclusions. Many have proven useful; others owe more to fashion than efficacy. Although not averse to research and amenable to the insights of neuroscience, Tallis accepts the tenets of psychoanalysis, such as the malign effect of modern life on mental health.

Less self-help than a lively and penetrating history of psychoanalysis.

Kirkus Reviews

"Vivid...A lively and penetrating history of psychoanalysis."—Kirkus

From the Publisher