Written in his beloved epigrammatic and aphoristic style, Equals extends Adam Phillips's probings into the psychological and the political, bringing his trenchant wit to such subjects as the usefulness of inhibitions and the paradox of permissive authority. He explores why citizens in a democracy are so eager to establish levels of hierarchy when the system is based on the assumption that every man is created equal. And he ponders the importance of mockery in group behavior, and the psyche's struggle as a metaphor for political conflict. --- from the publisher Reviews: "Adam Phillips is a clever, cultured, and eloquent man, a psychoanalyst and one-time child psychotherapist turned public guru, who obviously enjoys the process of writing and does it well...In this collection of essays and reviews he gives further proof of these talents, displaying his flirtatious intellect."
Financial Times "Brilliantly lucid; reading him on top form is like having bubbles of insight exploding inside one's head."
Sunday Telegraph About the Author:
Adam Phillips has been called "the closest thing we have to a philosopher of happiness." Formerly Principal Child Psychotherapist at Charing Cross Hospital in London, Phillips is the author of such works as Winnicott; On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored; Monogamy; On Flirtation; Terror and Experts; Darwin's Worms; Promises, Promises; and Houdini's Box.
from the publisher's website | 
