On Guilt

The Force Shaping Character, History, and Culture

John Carroll (La Trobe University, Australia)

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Hardback

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English

Routledge
03 March 2020

Social & cultural history; Cultural studies; Social theory; Social & cultural anthropology; Psychoanalytical theory (Freudian psychology)

Series: Morality, Society and Culture

Guilt is the dark force behind haunting anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behaviour, life meaninglessness, and depression – a force to be kept in check. Yet guilt is equally our richest and most hidden resource, the essence of our humanness, and it drives us on to our highest achievements. Today, when individuals feel bad it is not usually because of something specific they have done. Rather, thundering around in the depths of their being is guilt: obscure, unconscious, yet irrepressible and ever-present. Where does it come from, what are its ways, and how might it be put to useful work?

This book explores the nature of guilt, shedding light on how the modern West came increasingly to understand it as ‘the most terrible sickness’. It traces the psychological origins of guilt in each person’s family, and demonstrates the historical rise of guilt in parallel with civilization. It examines the modern predicament: the difficulty of finding explanations for guilt in a secular, post-church society – and the possibility of relief from its curse, while channelling it into a fulfilling life. As such it will appeal to those with interests in sociology, psychology, psychiatry, cultural studies, cultural history, and anthropology.

By: John Carroll (La Trobe University Australia)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 417g
ISBN: 9780367207670
ISBN 10: 0367207672
Series: Morality, Society and Culture
Pages: 184
Publication Date: 03 March 2020
Audience: College/higher education , Primary , A / AS level
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface; 1. The Sense of Guilt; Part 1: What Is Guilt?; 2. Definitions; 3. Naive Culture; 4. Persecutory Guilt; 5. Depressive Guilt; 6. The Family Origins of Guilt; Part 2: The Cultural History of Guilt; 7. England: 1350–1800; 8. The Causes of Increasing Guilt; 9. No Remission – the Death of God: 1800–1920; 10. Depressive Guilt Culture: 1920–1980; 11. A New Balance: 1980–; 12. The Metaphysics of Redemption; Bibliography; Index

John Carroll is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at La Trobe University, Australia, and Fellow of the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University, USA. His books include Land of The Golden Cities; The Existential Jesus; The Wreck of Western Culture: Humanism Revisited; The Western Dreaming; Ego and Soul: The Modern West in Search of Meaning; and Break-Out from the Crystal Palace. Metaphysical Sociology, a book on his work, was published in 2018. For more information on John Carroll visit www.johncarrollsociologist.wordpress.com.