This was the trenchant diagnosis by Paul Verhaeghe at the end of his acclaimed book about identity, What About Me? Now he returns to investigate another aspect of our lives under threat- authority.
In Says Who? Verhaeghe investigates how authority functions and why we need it in order to develop healthy psyches and strong societies. Going against the laissez-faire ethics of a free-market age, he argues that rather than seeing authority as a source of oppression we should invest in developing it in the places that matter. Only by strengthening the power of horizontal groups within existing social structures, such as in education, the economy, and the political system, can we restore authority to its rightful place. Whether you are a parent or child, teacher or student, employer or employee, Says Who? provides the answers you need.
'Experience, common sense and audacity- those are the qualities that characterize psychiatrist Paul Verhaeghe, who ... once again delivers an urgent message.'- AD Magazine (four stars)
Praise for What About Me?
'Remarkable ... What About Me? is one of those books that, by making connections between apparently distinct phenomena, permits sudden new insights into what is happening to us and why.' -George Monbiot, The Guardian
'A well-considered and fierce indictment of the rat race we call our lives and the toll it takes on us.' -NRC Handelsblad
- ISBN13 9781925322231
- Publish Date 3 July 2017
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country AU
- Imprint Scribe Publications
- Format Paperback (UK Trade)
- Pages 272
- Language English