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As a result of the discoveries of psychotherapy, we are now in the midst of the most profound revolution in human relations in the history of mankind. While this revolution stems from Freud and the psychoanalysts, it does not stop with them. Its directions can be indicated, yet its ultimate outcome can scarcely be visualized. We can only predict that even though much has changed, the greatest changes are still to come.
In order to have control over these changes it is necessary to be explicit about our goals, and to keep them clearly in mind. The purpose of this paper is to describe these goals in as much detail as possible. It is time to formulate a psychoanalytic philosophy of living.
To begin with let us explain the title. Ours is the age of awareness, in which for the first time we see how sick mankind is and always has been. As a result we can formulate a rational approach, based upon adequate scientific evidence, by which a new creative kind of living can be substituted for the old neurotic ways in which men have always been immersed.
The contrary to this position is that what is new in our age is the anxiety, not the awareness. It is true enough that each new day brings more evidence of the enormous burden of anxiety that modern man carries with him. Rennie and his co-workers14 have estimated that some eighty per cent of the ordinary New Yorkers