Since its publication in 1966, The Triumph of the Therapeutic has been hailed as a work of genuine brilliance, one of those books whose insights uncannily anticipate cultural developments and whose richness of argumentation reorients entire fields of inquiry. This special fortieth-anniversary edition of Philip Rieff’s masterpiece, the first volume in ISI Books’ new Background series, includes an introduction by Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn and essays on the text by historians Eugene McCarraher and Wilfred McClay and philosopher Stephen Gardner.
What They're Saying...
"A triumphantly successful exploration of certain key themes in cultural life. Rieff's incidental remarks are not only illuminating in themselves; they suggest whole new areas of inquiry."
— Alasdair MacIntyre, Guardian
"It was not until the appearance of Rieff's memorable writings that the interaction between psychotherapy and morality in the modern area came fully into view…A brilliant exegesis."
— Joseph Adelson, Public Interest
"Philip Rieff has become our most learned and provocative critic of psychoanalytic thinking and of the compelling mind and character of its first proponent…No review can do justice to to the richness of The Triumph of the Therapeutic."
— Robert Coles, New York Times Book Review
"ISI's new edition of Triumph is more than welcome. For any American still searching, as Americans have, for answers that can bear the weight of the questions at the heart of how to live, the reappearance of Philip Rieff's beacon of understanding is like the beam of a lighthouse coming into view on dark and choppy seas."
— James G. Poulos, The University Bookman