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The author of this book is a philosopher in the analytic tradition with a strong empiricist bent; he is deeply influenced by Grunbaum, a distinguished philosopher of science, who has argued that psychoanalytic theory is basically flawed from the scientific point of view.
The book starts by asking whether the promotion of the client's autonomy and free choice, a common aim of therapy, is compatible with psychotherapy as an applied
science. He concludes that they are although there is still considerable disagreement about free will versus determinism. But it is unclear what is meant by ‘autonomy’, so
isn't symptom relief a more practical goal since it is certainly more measurable and is often what clients desire. But then are all desires rational? The author argues that
desires are ‘defective’ exactly if averting their object would produce no benefit at all to the individual. But then we get into endless arguments as to what is beneficial. Is
faith in God beneficial? Some would say yes, it is the supreme value or ought to be for everyone, others that it is positively harmful and yet others would say it depends