Psychology and 'Human Nature' problematizes what psychology usually takes for granted - the meaning of the psyche or 'human nature'. Peter Ashworth provides a coherent account of many of the major schools of thought in psychology and its related disciplines, including: sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, radical behaviourism, existentialism, discursive psychology and postmodernism. For each approach he considers the claims or assumptions being made about 'human nature', especially regarding issues of consciousness, the self, the body, other people and the physical world.Psychology and 'Human Nature' will be essential reading for all students of psychology.Series Details; The Psychology Focus Series provides students with a new focus on key topic areas in psychology.Each short book:* presents clear, in-depth coverage of a discrete area with many applied examples* assumes no prior knowlede of psychology* has been written by an experienced teacher* has chapter summaries, annotated further reading and a glossary of key terms

Acknowledgements. Introduction: Psychology and 'Human Nature'. The Ultimate Biological Motive: The Evolutionary Perspective. Mental Conflict: Biolgical Drives and Social Reality. An Inner World: Cognitive Psychology. The Individual Consciousness - Anxiously Free in a Meaningless World. Social Being: Interacting and Presenting Oneself as a Person. 'Human Nature' as an Outmoded Cultural Presupposition. Conclusion. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.