The Politics of Self Determination

This text gives Leary's views on personal freedom when he was a young psychologist and how they evolved and morphed by the end of his career. Visionary Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary became the charismatic leader of the '60s counterculture. Remembered as a pioneer of research and experimentation with psychedelic substances, he was also an author, lecturer, political dissident, and media magnet whose wit and charm captured the world's attention. In this collection of essays from Leary's early career, he presents his concept of personal responsibility for the effects of one's behavior. According to Leary, self-determining people don't blame their parents, their race, or their society; they accept responsibility for their actions, which in turn determines the responses they get from the world. These writings had an enormous impact on the humanistic psychology movement and libertarian redefinition of the doctor-patient relationship. Ronin's new offering gives readers a fascinating glimpse into Leary's ground-breaking work in this area.