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In this paper, which is actually the third and final portion of a monograph, Brierley proposes 'to present in broad and tentative outline, the general conception of human nature and attitude towards life with its consequences for behavior which appear … to be inherent in psychoanalysis'. Since neither the philosophy of crude materialism nor the traditional agencies of moral authority have secured stability or freedom from tension for individuals and nations, the need for a new, rational ethic founded on scientific understanding of human psychology seems imperative.
As the summum bonum of this new morality, Brierley proposes the touchstone of 'integration'. By integration is understood 'the sense of wholeness resulting from the organization of dynamic components, a living unity engendered by the harmonious patterning of variety … a stable and unified personality'. By understanding those factors leading to personal integrity, it is hoped that principles conducive to world integration will be derived.
A first step in the process would be the classification of personality types. This task is not possible in our present state of psychoanalytic knowledge, but the ultimate classification, the author maintains, must be a psychosocial one. 'A generation or two might suffice to bring about an appreciable change in the distribution of psychosocial types.' During recent years, Western civilization has favored the development of immature and poorly integrated personalities.
Religion, specifically Christianity, as a method of personal integration is not losing ground. If anything, it is experiencing a revitalization, in spite of its failure to prevent cataclysmic warfare. Psychoanalysts have paid insufficient attention to preoedipal conflicts in religious motivation. Religious mysticism is motivated largely by such drives. In rare instances a life of sanctity may represent an extremely adequate and gratifying form of personal integration. Although psychoanalysis may lead