First published in 1938, this book established an elaborate agenda for understanding our subjective human nature that is as relevant to students of personality today as it was to its audience then. This reissue, enhanced by Dan McAdams' foreword, will provide a contemporary evaluation of this work.
A re-issue of the classic Explorations by Murray and his associates-now with McAdams' excellent introductory map of the personal, intellectual, and institutional landscape-is welcome and useful. In the seventy years since its first appearance, many of the book's path-breaking concepts and methods, especially those related to motivation, have become established and well-charted landmarks in the field of personality. Nevertheless, 21st century students of the person will still find many worthwhile uncharted topics that merit continued exploration: concepts such as 'need-integrate', 'gratuities', 'fusion and subsidization of needs', 'time-binding', and 'regnant processes', among others. At the same time, historians of the social sciences will welcome access to this sprawling archive of interdisciplinary excitement, created by an extraordinary group of pioneers who worked in a unique historical time and place.