Product Description

'The overall purpose of human communication is - or should be - reconciliation. It should ultimately serve to lower or remove the walls of misunderstanding which unduly separate us human beings, one from another...' Although we have developed the technology to make communication more efficent and to bring people closer together, we have failed to use it to build a true global community. Dr M. Scott Peck believes that if we are to prevent civilization destroying itself, we must urgently rebuild on all levels, local, national and international and that is the first step to spiritual survival. In this radical and challenging book, he describes how the communities work, how group action can be developed on the principles of tolerance and love, and how we can start to transform world society into a true community.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29403 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780684848587
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
An advocate of a supranational government agency to replace obsolete nation-states and transformation of the military into a national service corps, psychiatrist Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled, etc., argues that physical and spiritual salvation no longer can be separated. The only way to combat the public apathy and "militant ignorance" that allow the arms race to continue lies in grass-roots propagation of the community ideal, which the church and government have lost, argues the author. Individualism plus groupand self-acceptance, good communication and joint commitment are essential to building a true community whatever its membership and interests. Peck foresees a new era of integration favorable to a community movement that calls for universal application of the personal principles of tolerance and love. Renouncing both policies of appeasement and deterrence, he proposes a "peace through weakness" strategy that dares us to "empty" ourselves of outmoded ideas of security to the extent of facing the economic consequences of eliminating the arms race. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In his newest book psychiatrist Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled ( LJ 9/15/78), explores the nature of community, which can be recognized, he suggests, by the vulnerability, honesty, and theological cultural inclusiveness of its participants. Born of a yearning for world peace, this draws exciting analogies between the ways communities emerge and the dynamics of individual spiritual development. A moving work that achieves a rich integration of social/psychological insights and a contemplative stance. EC
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Relevant, Insightful, Provocative, Life-Changing. A must-read!
Once again Peck's integrative approach (integrating psychology, spirituality (not dogma), and philosophy with practical experience) has produced a work of profound depth and value. In our times of "global war," the doctor's ideas about community making and peace are a prescription we could all benefit from.
In the context of spirituality, Peck draws from the Christian tradition as well as Judaism and eastern philosophy (e.g. Zen). However, readers of any religious persuasion should find abundant value and wisdom in this book.
On a personal note, his portrayal of a healthy non-dogmatic Christianity was one of the factors that made me want to become a Christian when I first read his work many years ago. This book, along with the "Road Less Traveled" series had a profound impact on my life and will remain at eye-level on my bookshelf forever.
[If you're interested in good non-dogmatic and readable Christian theology and life-changing ideas... I also highly recommend works by Richard Rohr.]

Peck Mixes Spirituality with Common Sense
Community isn't what we think it is. Peck does an impeccable job of explaining true community and why it is so elusive in our society. Though he mentions over and over that he is an idealist, Peck presents some very intelligent arguments as to why a community approach just makes sense. He isn't naive either. He says the road to community can be painful and extremely hard.

A developmental model psychospirituality
After being catapulted to fame by his first book--the best-selling "The Road Less Travelled" --psychiatrist Morgan Scott Peck follows it up with another one on psychology and spirituality. The chapter that captured my interest without let was the one on his theory of psychospiritual development. He delineates four stages, each representing a more mature level of development than the preceding stage.

Peck claims that he arrived at this theory through experience, although he footnotes the fact that there have been many theories on psychological development prior to his, the most recent being a six-stage faith developmental model (see "Stages of Faith" by James W. Fowler)

Although Peck's elucidation of his theory is informal and sketchy, I find his model of psychospiritual development idiosyncratic enough to be regarded as a separate theory by itself.

Peck aptly calls it psychospiritual since it has both psychological and spiritual/religious dimensions. It is much akin to the developmental theories in psychology, yet it has a very strong religious flavor--Stage 1 being the lack of spirituality/ethical behavior, Stage 2 as orthodoxly religious, Stage 3 as a time of religious skepticism or atheism, and Stage 4 the mystical level.

Yet I believe Peck's theory tends to be ethically judgmental in character, i.e., it explicitly holds the higher stages as undeniably better than the lower ones, and tends to describe people in ethical terms--'chaotic/unprincipled' (Stage 1), or dogmatic (Stage 2), or principled (Stage 3)

Nevertheless, I see the veracity of such categories, albeit demanding much care and caution. Pigeonholing, specially in ethical terms, is dangerous business and can easily be misused and abused. However, I believe that Dr. Peck has realized the limitations of his theory and has provided caveats and exceptions in his later books, such as in "Further Along the Road Less Travelled"