Psychoanalysis, Classic Social Psychology and Moral Living

"It's hard to imagine a more needed book today than this searching exploration of the vicissitudes of our moral sense. Freud said that the ‘normal’ person was both more immoral and moral than s/he knew. Paul Marcus combines studies and thought from psychoanalysis and social psychology to illuminate eddies, corners and creative streams of the meaning of morality and links with wisdom. The work opens vistas that combine everyday dilemmas with our deepest hopes and touches what it means to be alive and a human being."
Michael Eigen, The Challenge of Being Human and Dialogues with Michael Eigen: Psyche Singing

"Having taught these ‘mind-blowing’ classic social psychological studies for over thirty years in my sociology courses, I believed just about everything worth saying about them has been said –until I read Paul Marcus's splendid book. His psychoanalytically glossed interpretation of the classics, his finding common ground between experimental social psychology and psychoanalysis, and most importantly, his illumination of the significance of these classics for living a moral life, provide much ‘food for thought’ and, I hope, productive conversation between the disciplines and beyond."
William B. Helmreich, Professor of Sociology and author of The Things They Say Behind Your Back: Stereotypes and the Myths Behind Them

"Is our behavior shaped by our unconscious internal drives, or demands of the external environment? Or both? Sadly, psychoanalysis and social psychology science (SPS) have remained totally separate paths to understanding human behavior, due to their 180-degree differences in concepts, methods, and outlook. Happily, this new volume by Paul Marcus offers us a long-overdue ‘conversation,’ applying psychoanalytic concepts to nine classic SPS experiments. Dr. Marcus is a distinguished, articulate, and erudite psychoanalyst who invites us to see more than ‘half the picture,’ by offering this book as a valuable opportunity to more fully understand behavior – reconciling the insights of social psychology and psychoanalysis."
Harold Takooshian, PhD, past-President of the American Psychological Association’s divisions of International Psychology and General Psychology

'It's hard to imagine a more needed book today than this searching exploration of the vicissitudes of our moral sense.
Freud said that the 'normal' person was both more immoral and moral than s/he knew. Paul Marcus combines studies and thought from psychoanalysis and social psychology to illuminate eddies, corners and creative streams of the meaning of morality and links with wisdom. The work opens vistas that combine everyday dilemmas with our deepest hopes and touches what it means to be alive and a human being.' - Michael Eigen, The Challenge of Being Human and Dialogues with Michael Eigen: Psyche Singing

'Having taught these 'mind-blowing' classic social psychological studies for over thirty years in my sociology courses, I believed just about everything worth saying about them has been said--until I read Paul Marcus's splendid book. His psychoanalytically glossed interpretation of the classics, his finding common ground between experimental social psychology and psychoanalysis, and most importantly, his illumination of the significance of these classics for living a moral life, provide much 'food for thought' and I hope, productive conversation between the disciplines and beyond.' - William B. Helmreich, Professor of sociology and author of The Things They Say Behind Your Back: Stereotypes and the Myths Behind Them

'Is our behavior shaped by our unconscious internal drives, or demands of the external environment? Or both? Sadly, psychoanalysis and social psychology science (SPS) have remained totally separate paths to understanding human behavior, due to their 180-degree differences in concepts, methods, and outlook. Happily, this new volume by Paul Marcus offers us a long-overdue 'conversation,' applying psychoanalytic concepts to nine classic SPS experiments. Dr. Marcus is a distinguished, articulate, and erudite psychoanalyst who invites us to see more than 'half the picture,' by offering this book as a valuable opportunity to more fully understand behavior--reconciling the insights of social psychology and psychoanalysis.' -- Harold Takooshian, PhD, past-President of the American Psychological Association’s divisions of International Psychology and General Psychology