The Insanity of Normality: Understanding Human Destructiveness
Encyclopedia
The Insanity of Normality: Toward Understanding Human Destructiveness is a book about the root causes of cruelty and violence written by psychoanalyst Arno Gruen
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It is Gruen's answer to Freud about human destructiveness. According to Freud, human beings are born with an innate tendency to destruction and violence; in The Insanity of Normality, Gruen challenges that assumption, arguing instead that at the root of evil lies self-hatred, a rage originating in a self-betrayal that begins in childhood, when autonomy
is surrendered in exchange for the "love" of those who wield power over us.
Arno Gruen
Arno Gruen is a Swiss-German psychologist and psychoanalyst.-Biography:Gruen was born in Berlin in 1923 and emigrated to the United States as a child in 1936 when his parents James and Rosa Gruen fled Germany to save their lives...
.
It is Gruen's answer to Freud about human destructiveness. According to Freud, human beings are born with an innate tendency to destruction and violence; in The Insanity of Normality, Gruen challenges that assumption, arguing instead that at the root of evil lies self-hatred, a rage originating in a self-betrayal that begins in childhood, when autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
is surrendered in exchange for the "love" of those who wield power over us.
Book details
- The Insanity of Normality: Understanding Human Destructiveness
- ISBN 978-0-9669908-4-3
- Formats: Trade paperback
- Publication date of most recent edition: March 2007 (first published 1987, in English in 1992)
- Current Publisher: Human Development Books, Berkeley, CA