The New York herald., 1922-12-17


TEACHER. BY H. Crichton Miller.
Thomas Seltzer
CHILD PSYCHOLOGY b. Wilhelm Ras-
mussen. In three volumes. Alfred A
Knopf.
JUST NERVES. BY Austen Fox Riggs
Houghton Mifiin Company.
NERVES AND PERSONAL POWER BY D.
Macdougall King. Fleming II. Revell COM
pany.
THE KINGDOM OF EVILS. BY E. E.
Southard and Mary C. Jarrett. The Mac
milan Company
THE BIOLOGY OF DEATH BY Raymond
PEARL J. B. Lippincott Company.
A LTHOUGH psychology is one of the
y youngest of the sciences. it is by
no means the least developed. for
while we are still perhaps only at the
Threshold of psychological exploration. yet
the wealth of attention which has of re-
cent years been devoted 10 the subject has
revolutionized our conception of the mind.
AS proof that the interest in psychology is
by no means on the wane. we need do no
more than consult the various books under
review, which deal with numerous phases
- Of the psychological and the near-psychO-
logical. endeavoring to examine the evolu-
ton of the soul from before birth until the
moment of death.
FIRST among the books OF the list We
may mention Beyond the Pleasure Prin-
ciple.' by Sigmund Freud il for no other
reason than that the author is the man
who exploded some OF our commonest
psychological conceptions By throwing a
bomb whose detonations were heard around
the world and have not yet ceased resound-
ing. In this little volume IS set forth some
Of Freud's characteristic and fundamental
philosophy: the author inquiries into the
psychic meaning OF pleasure and the I'M
pulses il arouses. and reaches the con-
elusion that "the search for pleasure mani
TESTS itself with Tar greater intensity IN
the beginning Of psychic life than later on.
but less unrestricteliy. L has 70 pat up
with far greater breaches- At a maturer
age the dominance OF the pleasure prin-
eiple Is very much more assured. though
this principle "a little ESCAPES limitations
as ali the other Instincts"
Along with Beyond the Pleasure Prin-
eiple" We may mention d. II. I.awrence's
Fantasia OF the Unconscious. a volume
that sets forth a philosophy involving
many elements OF Freudianism. but that
has the advantage OF being embodied in a
simpler style and more readily compre-
hensible language than the works of Freud
Lawrence is one Of the ultra radicals
among psychological writers. he wields an
iconoclastic sword and wields il snergeti-
eally and with a challenge; there is an air
OF bravadO about him as Of one who de,
lights in breaking images. and something
Of the mischievous boldness OF the small
boy who glories in defying his elders. For,
while all that he writes is interesting. Law
renee has the manner OF not caring for a
thing so irrelevant as a reader: he is
overfiOwing with cOcksureness and revels
in the gusto and variety of his own be-
liefs For all that here is much that is
profoundly true in his book. and much that.
while questionable. Is well worthy of
thought and inquiry; and what the author
has to say is worth reading. whether II
concerns the training of children, the
meaning of parent love. the significance
Of sex. or the relations of husband and
wife or Of teacher and pupil.
Similar in many respects to Mr.. Law
rence's book. in that it subjects educational
methods to the light Of recently acquired
psyche analytical knowledge IS II. Crich-
ton Niiler's volume on The New PsychOl-
ogy and the Teacher" Here We find a
study Of the emotional development Of the
boy and Of the girl. OF the mental mechan-
ism Of the young and OF the suhconscious
motives that underlie character Of reality
and fantasy as they appear in the mind
OF the child. of dream symbolism and of