- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Allworth Press; Expanded edition (Jan 1 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1581152388
- ISBN-13: 978-1581152388
- Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 1.3 x 22.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #605,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
LeShan, a clinical psychologist and author of Cancer as a Turning Point , argues that wars are an aspect of human behavior. War--widespread, easy to start, difficult to control--he maintains, fulfills psychological needs and eases tensions by creating an alternate reality structure, a binary vision of good versus evil. Like a mythic event, war makes the lives of individual participants more intense and more meaningful, at the same time creating the sense of a collective engaged in a noble enterprise. LeShan's explanations of war's appeal are more convincing than his ideas for calling on psychology and other social sciences to make us less susceptible to warmongering. Educational reforms to foster self-acceptance and government reforms to encourage peace-seeking appear fragile barriers against the powerful forces LeShan describes.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
The author of 11 books on psychology, including the recent Cancer as a Turning Point ( LJ 4/15/89), Shan turns here to the question of war. He centers his explanation on the psychological phenomenon of shifting from one conception of reality to others, and especially to "mythic reality." Once this shift has been made, the checks and balances of sensory reality are discarded and humans begin to see reality as a clash of good and evil that allows for no shadings or subtlety. LeShan argues that such thinking is used to justify initiating war and committing atrocities--acts that are unthinkable in other circumstances. By glorifying past wars and preparing for future wars, society reinforces this mindset. War is even welcomed, for it allows individuals to project inner hatreds, displace aggression, find a transcendental purpose in life, and achieve a sense of belonging in a group. LeShan suggests that to address the question of war, we must recognize the temptation of mythic thinking, educate individuals to find fulfillment outside the satisfactions of war, and restructure governments to seek peace with as much vigor as they prepare for armed conflict. Written in an accessible style with solid scholarship, this slender volume is recommended for public and academic libraries.
- Richard B. Finnegan, Stonehill Coll., North Easton, Mass.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Richard B. Finnegan, Stonehill Coll., North Easton, Mass.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
You Need this Book,
By "whateverhappenedtoprivacy" (Madison, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: PSYCHOLOGY OF WAR (Paperback)
There are plenty of good books on strategy and the history of warfare. But a good, easy to follow book on the psychology of war is the proper place to begin.LeShan's The Psychology of War is a useful, short non-scholarly book. The first hardcover edition lacked a general bibliography and an index. An Index has been added to the new expanded edition. For those others of you having only the 1st edition, The Psychology of War is now a searchable book here on Amazon. I should say that the book does have good footnotes, all gathered together at the end, and which list many useful sources. I am not surprised by the negative reviews this book has received here. These reviewers appear to be in the grips of the very sort of thinking that LeShan describes as "mythical." No one is immune from mythical thinking, even psychologists. Get with it, people. War maybe makes you feel good, like you're doing something, but it doesn't really create good. Ask yourself what need does the war fulfill? Is it the need to be in control? The need to belong to a powerful group? The need to spread democracy? The need to end terrorism? The need to immolate others and ourselves for a vague, long-term, impossibly utopian end? Then ask yourself what in our life has failed that we need this particular war? Have we really been failed by homeland security? Has the UN failed us? Has religion failed us, failed to make us feel secure and happy? Violent solutions like war come out of known human impulses. They range from greed to loneliness, to sadism, to a search for justice. A little self-examination on a national level might reveal some of these impulses, and I bet they aren't pretty. Remember, I'm talking about impulses, not the noble, official stories. LeShan's book is an excellent introduction. You won't look at the news or listen to political speeches the same way after you've read it. And if it has an obvious bias, it's the bias of reason and analysis applied to the universal problem of war.
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Waste of Time,
By Nilda R Lopez (Clewiston, FL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: PSYCHOLOGY OF WAR (Paperback)
This book is a sheer waste of time. It as nothing to do with why we, as human beings, make war. It is just a base for the author's anti-war sentiments and liberalist ideals. In essence, this book is a just a pendantic essay showing the author's incredible ill-sense but there are some good sections which consist of quotes that are more valuable than the author's opinion. His views on why we cause war is completely one-sided and not original and his ideas on the formation of alternative realities is narrow and does not sound like a psychologist. Do not waste your time and money on this book. Better buys would be the writings of John Keegan, Carl Von Clausewitz and Mao Tse-Tung. These are just some of the examples that can help anyone form an idea of why we make war that is more relevant than the author's.
1.0 out of 5 stars
More Liberal Trash,
By A Customer
This review is from: PSYCHOLOGY OF WAR (Paperback)
I was hoping that this book would provide me with some insight into how individuals are actually affected by war, but this book is nothing more than a forum for the author to express his blatent anti-war opinions. As a psychologist myself, I found this book to contain no real psychology, and the author's statements and accusations were not bolstered by any solid research. If you are interested in reading about the true psychology of war, I would not recommend this book. It is nothing more than a bunch of liberal opinion about what's wrong with war.
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