Martin Seligman · John Murray · Paperback
From the New York Times bestselling author and founding father of positive psychology
When the world feels complicated and unstable, it's easy to feel powerless — as if we're passengers in a vehicle we can't steer. Agency, the conviction that our actions matter and can make the future better, is the antidote. It is the mindset that lets us hope, that moves us from inertia to action, and that gives our lives purpose and direction.
From Periclean Athens and the Hebrew Torah to the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Civil Rights Movement, history has been shaped by surges and collapses in agency. Societies flourish when people feel able to act with confidence, optimism and imagination; when that belief fades, fear and passivity spread, and societies fall.
Drawing on six decades of pioneering research, Martin Seligman offers a radical reinterpretation of the past, a clear-eyed look at an AI-transformed future, and an urgent case for agency as the route to the next great era of human flourishing.
Praise
'This may be his most important book yet' — Steven Pinker
'Highly liberating and optimistic' — Rory Sutherland
'In this extraordinary book, Martin Seligman shows that one phenomenon — agency — has propelled all human progress and flourishing' — Arthur C. Brooks
About the author
Martin Seligman is widely regarded as the founding father of positive psychology and is the author of bestsellers including Learned Optimism, Authentic Happiness and Flourish.
Edition details
John Murray (Hachette) paperback · ISBN 9781399843058
For sale only in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan
