Living the Good Life: A Psychological History

Living the Good Life: A Psychological History is a collection of writings about the good life from some of the renowned psychologists and psychological thinkers in the history of the discipline. Through the selected readings, students become familiar with various views on what makes for a positive, fulfilled existence from behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic, and multicultural perspectives.

Featuring the work of seminal psychological thinkers such as Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, Karen Horney, Carl Rogers, and Anaïs Nin, the book encourages readers to examine their diverse viewpoints on making life both significant and joyous. New in the second edition, Frantz Fanon questions whether peaceful resistance is the best method for change, bell hooks encourages consciousness raising about sexism, and Haque introduces readers to Muslim contributions to psychology.

With its emphasis on personal growth and development, Living the Good Life is an ideal reader for courses in the history of psychology or well-being and health psychology.

Richard W. Bargdill received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Existential Psychology program at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. He is currently an associate professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Rich has held several leadership positions in The Society for Humanistic Psychology--Division 32 of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Bargdill is the author of An Artist's Thought Book: intriguing thoughts about the artistic process. He is also co-editor of Humanistic Contributions to Psychology 101: Growth, Choice and Responsibility. He researches boredom, meaning, and creativity. His artwork appears on four books covers as well in this edition.