Written for both lay and professional readers, this book offers new approaches to understanding addiction and the public policies necessary to successfully battle its detrimental effects on society. The author explains why current policies are ineffective and how they fail to cure the "problem." He argues that they actually encourage addiction by allowing people to feel blameless for the consequences of their choices.

Since he published "The Myth of Mental Illness" in 1961, radical psychiatrist and social critic Thomas Szasz has been the scourge of the psychiatric establishment, eloquently arguing against commitment of the mentally ill, the war on drugs, the insanity defense in criminal trials, Ritalin, homophobia, and other conventional dogmas. In "Szasz Under Fire, " experts who disagree with him explain their reasons, followed by Szasz's replies. Topics include the nature of mental illness, the right to suicide, drug use and abuse. An autobiography and bibliography of Szasz's works is also...

Thirteen critical essays challenge Howard Gardner's theories of multiple intelligences, ability traits, U-shaped curves in development, and other psychological concepts of spirituality, creativity, and leadership. All are answered by Gardner himself, and his pungent replies, coupled with the essays, create a provocative, no-holds-barred debate. Also included are an intellectual autobiography and bibliography.

One of the leading ethical thinkers of the modern age, Peter Singer has repeatedly been embroiled in controversy. Protesters in Germany closed down his lectures, mistakenly thinking he was advocating Nazi views on eugenics. Conservative publisher Steve Forbes withdrew generous donations to Princeton after Singer was appointed professor of bioethics. His belief that infanticide is sometimes morally justified has appalled people from all walks of life. Peter Singer Under Fire gives a platform to his critics on many contentious issues. Leaders of the disability rights group Not Dead Yet...

As it entered the 1960s, American institutional psychiatry was thriving, with a high percentage of medical students choosing the field. But after Thomas S. Szasz published his masterwork in 1961, The Myth of Mental Illness, the psychiatric world was thrown into chaos.

Szasz enlightened the world about what he called the -myth of mental illness.- His point was not that no one is mentally ill, or that people labeled as mentally ill do not exist. Instead he believed that diagnosing people as mentally ill was inconsistent with the rules governing pathology and the...