New PN: The Right to Be Human

“Abraham Maslow, who spearheaded humanistic psychology, was a visionary who inspired many people during his lifetime.

 

As a bold psychological thinker, he was a genius; his ideas have exerted a tremendous and still-growing influence throughout the social sciences, the business community, and the wider culture. Aside from the sheer originality and brilliance of Maslow’s creative work, he attracted many adherents through the force of his warm, magnetic personality. In his vibrant presence, ideas and hopes that had seemed romantically utopian became possible.

 

Abraham Maslow remains a hero to me—one whose intellectual courage and idealism were infused with humanity. In working on The Right to Be Human, I feel that I have made a lasting friend whose life is even more fascinating than I had originally suspected. He knew virtually every important psychological-social thinker of our time. His career bridged the beginnings of modern American social science and contemporary trends. In some ways, therefore, I have found myself writing a history of twentieth-century psychoanalysis, anthropology, education, managerial theory, and, of course, psychology. Through Maslow’s eyes, I have become acquainted in a new way with the work of many of the most well-known figures in these fields. Indeed, in the course of my research, I have had the opportunity to correspond with and meet some of Maslow’s famous living contemporaries. Additionally, I have acquired two other purposes in writing this book: To correct the distortions of Maslow’s theories that resulted from their popularization, and to expose some of the intriguing work that Maslow left unfinished.”