In this book, originally published in 1961, Laing critiques the Kleinian view of unconscious phantasy, as developed by Susan Isaacs. He emphasizes the overwhelming presence of social phantasy systems. He then discusses the extent to which an individual is or is not invested in their own actions, using ideas drawn from Martin Buber and Sartre

Originally published in 1961 this book is divided into two parts. In the first Laing critiques the Kleinian view of unconsciou phantasy, as developed by Susan Sutherland Isaacs. He emphasizes the overwhelming presence of social phantasy systems. In Part 2, Laing discusses the extent to which an individual is or is not invested in their own actions, using ideas drawn from Martin Buber and Sartre