The Western Mind in Transition. An Eyewitness Story: By Franz Alexander, M.D. New York: Random House, 1960. 300 pp.

This book is intended to introduce the reader to the changes that have occurred in Western civilization since the industrial revolution, and how these have affected the Western mind, particularly in the last fifty years. In the preface, Alexander discusses the merits of eyewitness exploration of current events. He attempts to validate his findings by basing them on a psychoanalytic approach to sociology, economics, art, literature, science, and the lives of his patients. The book is divided into two parts, the first of which embraces largely autobiographical data, from which is developed the thesis elaborated in many variations throughout the book: that Western man is engaged in a constant struggle to maintain his individual identity, which has been threatened by the radical changes within the present century. This conflict is interpreted by Alexander as resulting from a shift from absolute to relative standards and values. In the second part of the book, the author attempts to look at many aspects of the social and personal functions of the Western mind. From his own life he tries to derive a philosophical analysis of trends in Western life that to him indicate the emergence of a 'communal or statistical man', replacing the highly individualized personality of the past.

In the introductory chapter, Alexander indicates that he does not attempt to be a historian finding causes, but only to identify transitions in the Western mind without applying value judgments. It seems to the reviewer that this aim has not been altogether carried out. There appears throughout the book a repetitive emphasis on moral and teleological evaluations of observed changes. A constant note of despair and discontent over these changes and a resulting pessimistic attitude toward current realities can be discerned in the author. His conclusions are derived from personal experiences, as is clearly evidenced in the first part of the book. These experiences are those of a special socio