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 Furtmüller, and an extensive bibliography of Adler's writings.