[email protected]
B.A. Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, 1952
M.A. Philosophy, Yale University, 1954
Ph.D. Philosophy, Yale University, 1957
Dr. Lichtman is a philosopher who specializes in the relationship between the social and psychological dimensions of human life. His approach is broadly interdisciplinary: he has taught in departments of philosophy (University of California, Berkeley), humanities (San Francisco State University), sociology (University of California, Santa Cruz) and psychology (The Wright Institute, California School of Professional Psychology, etc.) and has been a faculty member of the Council on Educational Development (CED) program at the University of California, Los Angeles. His books also indicate the range of his interests: Essays in Critical Social Theory covers a broad range of topics in economic, social, and political theory, while The Production of Desire is a detailed analysis of the works of Marx and Freud.
Dr. Lichtman is particularly interested in critical theory; existentialism and phenomenology; the social construction of the self; sexuality, gender and the body; critique of object relations theory; Marx and Freud; the psychology of film; and history and systems of psychology, seen in a broadly social light.
He believes that psychology is always embedded in a larger social context and can only be understood by examining that broader context. His approach is historical, social and critical, placing special emphasis on the ideological aspects of institutions and theories.
Dr. Lichtman has also conducted state-funded research on the relationship of unemployment and mental illness. He has been a visiting scholar in several institutions, the recipient of an NEH grant, and an expert witness on issues of labor and mental health. He is presently writing a critical analysis of contemporary object relations theory.
