The feeling intellect: selected writings
Counter Collected here for the first time, these writings demonstrate the range and precision of Philip Rieff's sociology of culture. Rieff addresses the rise of psychoanalytic and other spiritual disciplines that have reshaped contemporary culture. The organization of this volume reflects Rieff's major theoretical interests, beginning with a section of his writings on psychoanalysis. The second section, "Religion and Politics", contains three subsections on Judaism, Christianity, and political faiths and their futures, which introduce the reader to Rieff's lifelong reflections on the sacred in both religion and politics. Section three, "Intellectuals and Education", includes Rieff's little known essays on sociology combined with his pieces on the theory and practice of teaching. In the final section, "Culture and Character", Jonathan B. Imber has assembled Rieff's writings on the formulation of the current therapeutic culture. What emerges is Rieff's vision of what is highest in culture, namely, the recognition of authority in sacred order, which is the practice of pre-therapeutic social orders.