The origins of the tradition of positive thinking

Abstract

The following pages are a work in the sociology of culture. I analyze critically the first period of the so-called tradition of positive thinking, which goes from the end of the 19th century to the present positive psychology. This article follows the cultural critique (following Elias´s work) of the so-called “therapeutic gospel”, and its ideal of happiness as something purely psychological and cultural mandatory. The article is centered upon the first self-help books, as key to the diffusion of cultural patterns.