In a fascinating analysis of the great psychological and sociological thinkers—including Freud, Maslow, McClelland, Durkheim, Skinner, Lewin and Mead—this erudite text challenges the models, myths and metaphors of modern psychology. Psychologists have promoted the view that human beings are the victims of internal and external forces, and have laboured to absorb free and responsible individuals into a pseudo-scientific framework that denies moral agency and thus renders them incapable of recognising notions of right and wrong. This book will appeal to anyone who has read enough psychology to have been perplexed and frustrated by its famous emperors. It demonstrates that if we take these naked emperors seriously and deny human freedom and personal responsibility, we shall have contributed to the undermining of our civilisation. With skill and verve, the book carries readers through an array of ideas to a ‘purposive psychology’ that enables individuals to gain insight into, and mastery of, themselves.