Unforbidden Pleasures

New
Paperback
2016
$12.33

So much has been written about forbidden pleasures. What about pleasures that are unforbidden? Society is fascinated by taboo - we spend our lives chasing illicit pleasures - but nobody pays much attention to all the unforbidden pleasures freely available to us every day. Could we be gaining just as much reward from these unnoticed, unforbidden indulgences as from the much-glorified forbidden - or even more? Starting with Oscar Wilde, Adam Phillips elegantly unfolds all the meanings and significances of the Unforbidden, from Genesis to Freud and his 20th century colleagues. Unforbidden Pleasures explores the philosophical, psychological and social complexities that govern human desire and shape our reality.

Synopsis

So much has been written about forbidden pleasures. What about pleasures that are unforbidden? Society is fascinated by taboo - we spend our lives chasing illicit pleasures - but nobody pays much attention to all the unforbidden pleasures freely available to us every day. Could we be gaining just as much reward from these unnoticed, unforbidden indulgences as from the much-glorified forbidden - or even more? Starting with Oscar Wilde, Adam Phillips elegantly unfolds all the meanings and significances of the Unforbidden, from Genesis to Freud and his 20th century colleagues. Unforbidden Pleasures explores the philosophical, psychological and social complexities that govern human desire and shape our reality.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 208
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 06 Oct 2016
ISBN 10: 0241964083
ISBN 13: 9780241964088
Book Overview: Elegantly exploring the meaning and significance of the Unforbidden, from Genesis to Oscar Wilde to Freud and his fellow writers, Unforbidden Pleasures examines the philosophical, psychological and social dilemmas that govern our desire and shape us.

Media Reviews

Publisher's description. Adam Phillips elegantly unfolds the concept of the 'unforbidden', from the Old Testament to Freud and beyond, exploring the philosophical, psychological and social complexities that govern human desire and shape our reality. * Penguin *
The most interestingly subversive meditation on modern life I have read for many years... Phillips ranges over a wide field, including reflections on Hamlet and the tyrannical power of conscience. Elegant, forceful and rich in insight, this is a book that can be read again and again * New Statesman - Books of the Year 2015 *
[A] playfully digressive style... He is the finest living decipherer of affective life [and] the Bob Dylan of psychoanalysis * Daily Telegraph *
There is a lot of philosophy and psychoanalysis packed into these 200 pages * Radar *
Adam Phillips is single-handedly continuing the tradition of the world's best essayists * Observer *

Author Bio

Adam Phillips, formerly Principle Child Psychotherapist at Charing Cross Hospital, London, is a practising psychoanalyst and a visiting professor in the English department at the University of York. He is the author of numerous works of psychoanalysis and literary criticism, including most recently Unforbidden Pleasures, and Missing Out. He is General Editor of the Penguin Modern Classics Freud translations, and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature.