Superiority and Social Interest

Two key ideas in Alfred Adler's thinking are reflected in these twenty-one papers: the individual's striving toward some kind of individually conceived superiority, perfection, or success and the healthy person's need to connect that striving with social interest--concern for the common good. The selections provide a survey of the wide range of Adler's theories and clinical experience and they include a long essay on religion and individual psychology and Adler's account of his differences with Freud. Each selection is given in its entirety, and the volume contains a biographical essay on Adler by his earliest important co-worker, Carl Furtm ller, and an extensive bibliography of Adler's writings.