A Journey in the Human Dilemma
by Julius E. Heuscher
Category: Conduct of life

In Psychology, Folklore, Creativity and the Human Dilemma, the author explores the meaning of folklore and its usefulness in education and psychotherapy. The author’s interest has expanded into other fields that challenge and question the limits of our everyday horizons, namely, into operas, plays, and humor, as well as into new approaches to the meaning of human existence explored by modern thinkers. These various fields often interact, explain, and enrich each other. The book aims for deepening the awareness of our ultimate human concerns, the meaning of authenticity, and the urgent need for radical, long-term commitments. The present volume focuses almost entirely on the role of folklore in expanding and enriching a person’s horizons, on the challenges by modern writers in terms of the need to radically alter the paradigm of Western society that has brought the blessings of technology, led to a fragmentation of our psyche, and threatens the very essence of our subjectivity. Throughout the book there is both the hidden and the overt implication that simply liking, appreciating or agreeing with insightful ideas and suggestions presented by anyone are absolutely worthless, or may even be counterproductive, if the readers do not translate into changes and actions the ideas that are most meaningful to them, and if they do not do so in their family, social, political and spiritual life.