Understanding Human Nature

313 Pages·1927·12.9 MB·English

by  Alfred Adler

A STAR BOOK
Z%bQ> /
19^i5 /
U N D E R S T A N D I NG
H U M AN N A T U RE
Βγ ALFRED ADLER
TRANSLATED BY
Walter Beran Wolfe
GARDEN CITY PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
QAHDBN CITY, NEW ΪΟΒΚ
COPYRIGHT, 1927
GREENBERG, PUBLtöHER, INC.
PRINTED IM THE UNITED 8TATE3 OF ЛМЕК1СД
AT THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS
GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
This book is an attempt to acquaint the general pubHc
with the fundamentals of Individual Psychology. At the
same time it is a demonstration of the practical applica­
tion of these principles to the conduct of one's everyday
relationships, not only to the world, and to one's feüow-
men, but also to the organization of one's personal life.
The book is based upon a year's lectures to an audience of
hundreds of men and women of all ages and professions,
at the People's Institute in Vienna. The purpose of the
book is to point out how the mistaken behavior of the in­
dividual a*ffects the4harmony of our social and communal
life; further, to teaeh the individual to Vecognize his own
mistakes, and finaHy, to show him how he may effect a
harmonious adjustment to thexcommunal Ufe. Mistakes in
business or in science are costly and deplorable, but mis­
takes in the conduct of life are usually dangerous to Hfe
itself. To the task of uluminating man's progress4oward
a better · understanding of human nature, this book is
Medicated.
ALFRED ÄDLEH

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
It has long been one of the contentions of Alfred Adler
that scientific knowledge must never remain the private
property to those who, by virtue of their special training,
have been enabled to win new truths from Nature: the
value of all knowledge is relative to its usefulness to
humanity. The origins of Individual Psychology lie in
chapters on organ and constitutional pathology which are
among the most abstruse in all medicine. Very few are
qualified to read and understand Adler's first epoch-
making "STUDIE ÜBEß DIE MINDERWERTIGKEIT VON OB-
GANEN." Yet in the fifteen years which have foUowed the
publication of this work, Alfred Adler and his feUow-
students have experimented ceaselessly along the lines sug­
gested in this book, so that today Individual Psychology
has become a separate science, a psychotherapeutic method,
a system of characterology, at one and the same time a
'' Weltanschauung'' and an approach to the understanding
of human conduct. Despite the difficulty of the source
material, the technique of understanding human conduct
which is the fruit of these fifteen years of constant experi­
ment and study, lies within the scope of any intelHgent
adult.
Individual Psychology foUowed its recognition of the
origins of the neurosis and delinquency in the situations
of childhood, by establishing free child-guidance clinics in
the schools and settlements of Vienna. The courageous sac­
rifice of Adler's pupils, who worked without pay, often
vii
viii TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
under the most unsatisfactory physical conditions, was
amply repaid Ъу the splendid psychotherapeutic results.
Realizing further that every adult, armed with the method
and insight of Individual Psychology, might make his life
more meaningful, understand the conduct of his fellows
better, and become a more complete human being, Adler
responded to numerous requests, and held weekly lectures
in the large auditorium of the People 's Institute of Vienna,
on the understanding of human nature and on the tech­
nique of living. These leetures were held before audiences
of several hundred people of both sexes, and of all ages.
Following each lecture an open forum was held, and Dr.
Adler answered the written questions showered upon him
in his genial, encouraging way.
UNDERSTANDING HuMAN NATUKE represents a year of
these lectures at the People's Institute. A manifest defect
in the book is that it is a spoken book and not a written
book. Minus the gestures, minus the sparkle of Dr. Adler's
wit, minus his extempore blackboard diagrams, UNDER­
STANDING HuMAN NATURE tends to become a literary
shadow of a very vibrant reality. Yet the material covers
the broad expanses of human conduct so well, and illum­
inates in the understanding of our fellows so many points
which have become muddied in the current logomachia of
the various psychotherapeutic schools, that the translation
of this work becomes important to all students of human
conduct. Physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists will
realize that UNDERSTANDING HuMAN NATURE is not an
exhaustive treatise on psycho-pathology, but an attempt to
treat the many-faceted problems of the neuroses in a man­
ner intelligible to the educated adult. Students of the spe­
cial problems, touched but cursorily in these pages, will
use it not as a final text, but as a manual of suggestions
and stimulations. The same may be said of educators and
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE ix
sociologists, for whom the findings of Individual Psy­
chology are of great moment. It is to the average intelli­
gent adult that UNDERSTANDING HuMAN NATURE wül have
the greatest appeal. The precept of Socrates, "Know thy­
self!" was, unfortunately, not followed by directions for
acquiring that knowledge. Centuries after the death of the
Athenian, a profound thinker, a great physician, a greater
knower of the human soul, has gathered the fruits of his
experience, and published a manual and a guide for this
understanding of our fellows and ourselves.
The otherwise arduous toil of adequately translating
these lectures from the involved and ponderous thought-
ways of German, has been materially lightened by a fortu­
nate constellation of circumstances. The preparation of the
manuscript and the correction of the proofs have been
largely the painstaking and friendly labor of Professor
Elizabeth-Vera Loeb of Hunter College. Long personal
study with Dr. Adler, attendance at these very lectures,
participation in the actual work of the child-guidance
clinics in Vienna, together with the application of the
theory and practice of Individual Psychology in the clinics
of New York, have enabled the translator to translate not
only the words, but the feeling and spirit of Individual
Psychology, into the more dynamic idiom of America. A
splendid fellowship with the author has more than compen­
sated the translator for his pains.
W. BERAN WOLPE, M.D.
New York City
November 1927

CONTENTS
PAÜB
PREFACE .. . . ν
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE vii
INTRODUCTION 3
BOOK I: HUMAN BEHAVIOR
OHAPTBR
I. THE SOUL 17
The Concept and Premise of the Psychic Life . . 17
The Function of the Psychic Organ . . . . 18
Teleology in the Psyehic Life 19
II. SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE PSYCHIC LIFE . 26
The Absolute Truth 26
The Need lor Communal Life . . . . . . 27
Security and Adaptation 29
The Social Feeling . . . 31
III. CHILD AND SOCIETY . . . . . . . . 33
The Situation of the Infant . . . ·.: . . .· 33
The Influence of Difficulties 36
Man as a Social Being 42
IV. THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 44
The Structure of Our Cosmos 44
Elements in the Development of the Cosmic Picture 47
Perception 47
Memory 48
Imagination 49
Fantasy . . 57
Dreams: General Considerations . . . . . 59
Empathy and Identification . . . . . . . 60
Hypnosis and Suggestion . . . •. ·. . . 62
xi
xii CONTENTS
CHAPTEB PAGE
V. THE FEELING OF INFERIORITY AND THE
STRIVING FOR RECOGNITION . . . . 69
The Situation in Early Childhood 69
The Striving for Superiority 72
The Graph of Life and the Cosmic Picture . . 80
VI. THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 91
Play 91
Attention and Distraction . 93
Criminal Negligence and Forgetfulness . . . 96
The Unconscious 97
Dreams 107
Talent 117
VII. SEX 120
Bisexuality and the Division of Labor . . . . 120
The Dominance of the Male in the Culture of Today 122
The Alleged Inferiority of Women 129
Desertion from Womanhood 133
Tension Between the Sexes 145
Attempts at Reform 147
VIII. THE FAMILY CONSTELLATION 149
BOOK II: THE SCIENCE OF CHARACTER
• I. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 161
The Nature and Origin of Character . . . . 161
The Significance of the Social Feeling for the De­
velopment of Character 166
The Direction of Character Development . . . 171
The Old School of Psychology 179
Temperament and Endocrine Secretion . . . . 180
Recapitulation 188
. II. AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS . . . 191
Vanity and Ambition 191
Jealousy 221
Envy 223