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We welcome yet another work by the indefatigable Pfister. The present one is a collection of half a dozen essays, the common feature of which resides in the application of psycho-analysis to other fields. The fields here considered are those of pictorial art, war, philosophy, ethics, child-life, and religion. In connection with the last-named of these Pfister writes some stimulating chapters on the novel topic of the necessity of psycho-analysis to missionaries.
As is well known, Pfister has done extremely useful work in the exposition of psycho-analysis. The present book, however, like several others of his, goes beyond this aim, and makes many valuable contributions to our knowledge. The most definite ones are those on the analysis of paintings, largely based on the actual analysis of a living painter in whom Pfister was able to make interesting investigations into the genesis and origin of his inspiration. The chapters on the relation of psycho-analysis to metaphysics and ethics are both thoughtful and stimulating and are well worthy of careful perusal by every psycho-analyst. On the subject of religion he seems to us, curiously enough, to be less helpful. Either he has not thought his way deeply enough into the subject, being indeed obviously much more interested in ethics than in theology, or else the present occasion did not seem to him a suitable one for a more searching examination of the subject. In this respect his work does not compare with that of Swisher.
It is a pity that the translation was not revised by someone conversant with the subject. We meet with numerous mistakes, such as the misquoting of Jung's 'Psychology of the Unconscious' as 'The Psychology of Subconscious Processes' (p. 181), of Rank and Sachs' book (p. 172), misspelling like Klage for Klages (p. 161), the curious circumlocution of 'medical men treating internal complaints' for 'physicians', etc. etc. In general, however, the translation is well written and reads easily.