Book Reviews : Abraham H. Maslow. Religions,Values and Peak Experiences. Colum bus,Ohio: Ohio State University Press,1964. 123 pp

Goldstein, K. The organism. New York: American Book Company, 1939.

Goldstein, K. Human nature in the light of psychopathology. Cam-bridge : Harvard Univ. Press, 1940.

Margenau, H. The nature of physical reality. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1950.

Margenau, H. The new view of man in his physical environment. Centennial Review of Arts and Science, Winter 1957, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1-25.

Mills, C.W. The sociological imagination. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1959.

Polyani, M. Personal knowledge. Towards a post-critical philosophy. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1958.

Teilhard DE Chardin, P. The phenomenon of man. New York: Harper, 1961.

Pitirim A. Sorokin. The Basic Trends of our Times. New Haven: College & University Press Services, 1964. 208 pp.

This volume of five essays deals with what Sorokin takes to be the three most important trends of our time and relates these to a number of concerns which have engaged the author for many years. The three most important trends of our time are, for Sorokin, (1) a shift of the creative leadership of mankind from Europe and the European West, where it has been centered during the last five centuries, to a wider area of the Pacific and the Atlantic, particularly the Americas, Asia, and Africa; (2) a continued disintegration of the hitherto predominant sensate man, culture, society, and system of values; and (3) the emergence and slow growth of the first components of a new, integral order, system of values, and type of personality.

In his second chapter East-West relationships are examined in the light of the first trend. After examining cultural elements indigenous to the East and the West, the author predicts the possible emergence of a new integral order in East and West and examines the factors and international relationships which today make that event possible. Among the possible consequences of such a new world-order, Sorokin sees a mitigation of the existing mental, moral and social anarchy, an increase of interindividual and intergroup harmony and a decrease of social antagonisms, wars, revolts and crime.

Sorokin states that the integral order which he foresees will be neither capitalistic nor communistic but one quite different from either and one which will possess cultural and institutional features which will be common to both the USA and the USSR. These predicted commonalities, reflecting the three basic trends of our time, are spelled out by Sorokin for the following areas: natural sciences and technology, the social sciences and humanities, philosophy, ethics and criminal law, education, sports and recreation, fine arts, religion, marriage and the family, the economic system, social relationships and the political system. Sorokin asserts that there is not a single value in the USA or USSR which would justify the continuation of the present belligerent policies or war. If a catastrophe occurs in the relations of East and West, says Sorokin, the reasons will lie not in the high-sounding abstractions invoked by partisans on both sides but in our own stupidity, irrationality, greed, irresponsibility, and plain human wickedness.

Sorokin's fourth essay deals with the uniformity found, as he sees it, in all great catastrophes, namely, with religious and moral polarization as it manifests itself in the contemporary crises of mankind. Negative religious polarization in the West is seen in the increasing irreligiosity of our time. Negative moral polarization is seen in the hypocritical use of moral and legal norms to cloak egocentric grabs for power, wealth and influence. Positive religious polarization is found in the declining tide of atheism in the USSR, in increasing church membership in the US, in the rise of groups and intentional communities in the West, concerned with the living expression of religious and moral values and in interfaith activities. Positive moral polarization may be noted in the rise of pacifist groups, the growing interest in international bodies like the United Nations and in the emergence of professional concerns like humanistic psychology and studies concerned with creative altruism. Sorokin feels that, if there is no new world war or other major catastrophe, the forces of positive polarization will prevail over those of negative polarization.

In his last essay Sorokin introduces his readers to the new field of creative altruism and love and the researches which have been undertaken in this area. Among the items discussed are the five dimensions of altruistic love, love as eros and agape, the pacifying and harmonizing functions of love, the role of love in producing knowledge, beauty, goodness, freedom and happiness, and the techniques by which individuals and groups can be helped to effect a moral transformation and thereby increase the extent to which they can exhibit love as brotherhood, towards one another. Among the techniques mentioned are the following and I quote from Sorokin, himself:

... the use of various chemical, physical, and biotic agents; training in posture and control of the automatic nervous system; and techniques of conditioned reflexes, habit formation, mechanical drilling, and punishment and reward. More refined methods involve rational persuasion and scientific demonstration, reinforced by mobilization of man's emotional, effective, and volitional forces; use of the heroic examples; direct life experience; and the inspiration of the fine arts. The subtle techniques to increase the altruism of man include stimulation of man's creativity; concentration, meditation, and self-examination ; and especially the complex methods of the Yogas, of Zen Buddhism, Sufism, of somatopsychic techniques of orthodox Christianity, and the techniques invented by the founders of religions of love and of the great monastic orders (St. Basil the Great, St. Benedict, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Bernard, St. John Climacus, John Cassian, St. Francois de Sales, Ignatius Loyola, and others). The inventors of these techniques knew a great deal about the effective procedures for man's moral transformation; otherwise they could not have become successful moral educators of humanity. (p. 204)

This volume will be of real value to humanistic psychologists because it embodies so forcefully many of the assumptions, methods, findings and concerns which motivate The Third Force. To the degree that it spells these out and frequently casts them in a fresh light, it helps to solidify the expression of the professional idiom which is increasingly beginning to characterize a humanistic psychology. Perhaps Sorokin gives insufficient emphasis to the play of science and technology in forcing changes in the patterns of human behavior. Perhaps also he overplays the role which religious, moral and social abstractions and ideals play in the determination of man's behavior. When all is said and done, however, this volume will prove of real worth to members of The Third Force, regardless of their profession, and will help to coordinate considerably the objectives which will continue to motivate them for some time.