Jews and the American Soul: Human Nature in the Twentieth Century

Andrew R. Heinze

Princeton University Press, Nov 5, 2006 - History - 438 pages

What do Joyce Brothers and Sigmund Freud, Rabbi Harold Kushner and philosopher Martin Buber have in common? They belong to a group of pivotal and highly influential Jewish thinkers who altered the face of modern America in ways few people recognize.


So argues Andrew Heinze, who reveals in rich and unprecedented detail the extent to which Jewish values, often in tense interaction with an established Christian consensus, shaped the country's psychological and spiritual vocabulary.



Jews and the American Soul is the first book to recognize the central role Jews and Jewish values have played in shaping American ideas of the inner life. It overturns the widely shared assumption that modern ideas of human nature derived simply from the nation's Protestant heritage.


Heinze marshals a rich array of evidence to show how individuals ranging from Erich Fromm to Ann Landers changed the way Americans think about mind and soul. The book shows us the many ways that Jewish thinkers influenced everything from the human potential movement and pop psychology to secular spirituality. It also provides fascinating new interpretations of Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and Western views of the psyche; the clash among Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish moral sensibilities in America; the origins and evolution of America's psychological and therapeutic culture; the role of Jewish women as American public moralists, and more. A must-read for anyone interested in the contribution of Jews and Jewish culture to modern America.

What people are saying

User Review  - Overstock.com

I loved this book. It was unusual intelligent andsurprisereally fun to read! Really fun! I was a history major in college European history and I still love history.

Jews and the American soul: human nature in the twentieth century

User Review  - Not Available - Book Verdict

Heinze (American history & director, Swig Judaic studies, Univ. of San Francisco; Adapting to Abundance ) examines how modern American culture has been greatly influenced by Jewish American ...

Contents

• INTRODUCTION: 1
• CHAPTER: 11
• CHAPTER 2: 39
• Jews and the Crisis of the Psyche: 50
• CHAPTER 4: 64
• CHAPTER 5: 87
• CHAPTER 6: 103
• CHAPTER 7: 140
• CHAPTER 8: 165
• CHAPTER 9: 195
• CHAPTER 10: 217
• CHAPTER 11: 241
• CHAPTER 12: 261
• CHAPTER 13: 295
• CHAPTER 14: 321
• Conclusion: 349
• Index: 419

About the author

Andrew R. Heinze is Professor of American History and Director of the Swig Judaic Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. Raised in New Jersey, he graduated from Amherst College and earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Berkeley. Andrew Heinze has written widely on history, religion, and current events and is the author of Adapting to Abundance.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Jews and the American Soul: Human Nature in the Twentieth Century
• Author: Andrew R. Heinze
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2006
• ISBN: 0691127751, 9780691127750
• Length: 438 pages
• Subjects: History / Jewish; History / Modern / 20th Century / General; History / United States / 20th Century; Social Science / Jewish Studies