Man, Morals and Society

Professor Flugel's untimely death has recently made us all sad : and the republication of this book (which first appeared in 1945) emphasises our loss anew. Although the subtitle is "a psychoanalytic study" it will appeal to the general reader, and indeed is a most skilful attempt to integrate the theories of the various psychoanalytic schools into a comprehensive?and, remarkably, comprehensible?whole. His book may serve many a student as an introduction to psychoanalytic terms and literature : but it is of course much more, and provides a study of most forms of human behaviour, individual and social. Professor Mace in his introduction points out that Flugel's patient understanding has reconciled the two schools of thought, which split in Galen's time into philosophy and medicine, and here Flugel attempts a reconciliation between psychology and ethics. He is always clear : without ceasing to be profound : and he is often witty without losing the thread of argument. Only two of his chapters, on Religion and on Politics, are disappointing, for his love of analysis factors has perhaps led to some too sweeping generalisations, with an occasional lapse, such as his views on Stalin (but this was in 1945) or, more surprising, on the weaknesses of Christianity. But it is none the less a classic, and we must call it a praiseworthy achievement for Pelican Books to make such a volume available to the general reader.