Summary of Theodore Dalrymple's Admirable Evasions

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 The claim that we have greater insight into human nature than ever before is common. But it is a bold man who claims that he has greater insight than Montaigne or Shakespeare.

#2 The first psychological scheme to provide the common man with the illusion of much expanded self-understanding was psychoanalysis. Then came behaviorism, after which there was cybernetics. Now, neuroscientific imaging and a little light neurochemistry persuade us that we are about to solve the mystery of human existence.

#3 Freud was a brilliant man, but his career as a scientist was not. He was a liar who falsified evidence, a plagiarist who did not acknowledge his sources, and a self-aggrandizing mythologist who manipulated people.

#4 The human mind is not straightforward, and we do not always know the reasons for our thoughts and actions. We can, however, recognize that we can think and direct our thought, and that we can check the accuracy of our thoughts for veracity, decency, and consistency.