Addiction & Responsibility: An Inquiry Into the Addictive Mind

by Franc F. Seeburger

Francis Seeburger in Addiction and Responsibility probes the nature of addictiveness, putting forth the thesis that nearly everyone has addictive tendencies that need to be acknowledged if they are to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0824515013
• ISBN13: 9780824515010
• Release Date: March 1995
• Publisher: Crossroad Publishing
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Life-Changing instruction

Seeburger shows how people get lured into addictive behaviors by actually wanting control over their lives through the predictable outcomes from abusing a substance or activity, and how they can take responsibility for fleeing the slavery of addiction. People become disowned by addiction and can find their way out by taking charge, not by a victim-mentality. A wonderfully insightful book which should be read by everyone.

An exceptional systematic approach to to the issues

It is sad that this book is out of print. It was passed to me by my ex-wife while I was perusing the shelves of a very disorganized used bookstore. To her it was a joke, to me it was inspiration. What intitially compelled my interest is that the author is a Professor of Philosophy. But don't let that scare you away! as he lends a systematic approach to addiction that permits him to discern, uncover and demystify aspects of the dilemma that were to me, as I read the book, astonishing. The author's views are sound, strong--and very difficult to refute--all of which makes this book so powerful.

The most insightful book I've ever read on addiction

This book is outstanding. This book does what none of the previous books that I've read have been able to do: move beyond the issues of addictive behavior and address the issues of additcive thinking which produce the behavior. As another reviewer observed, it is not easy reading. For those who are struggling with addictions; for those who are hurting and frustrated, be advised that this book may not tell you what you want to hear. But it just might give you some valuable insights as to why the struggle often seems so impossible, and what the larger issues are. This book has changed my life. I would recommend it to every therapist who deals with addicts. I would also recommend it to every addict who is far enough into recovery to realize that abstinence alone cannot overcome addition.

First rate book. Integrates many approaches superbly.

This is a superb and thoughtful integration of current biochemical, spiritual/religious, "12 Step," literary, and philosophical approaches to the topic of addictions, broadly defined. Seeburger has clearly ready unusually widely and deeply in these fields and has equally clearly thought long and hard about the issues involved. Seeburger puts his ideas together in creative,plausible, and useful ways, and this is ultimately a practical book as well as a theoretical one. It is not an easy book, however, and it probably would be very tough reading for anyone still caught up in the active practice of the addictive syndrome or in the initial phases of treatment/recovery. My own perception is that reading the book requires some capacity for detachment from the nitty-gritty of living the addictive life, and other books might be more helpful for people in the earliest stages of their journey from addictions to freedom. I think Seeburger has done a terrific job with a difficult area.