The point of view of this work is that of gestalt theory. Gestalt concepts were applied to examine issues in social psychology. The author hopes that the reader will find them of help in widening the horizon and in deepening perspective of the human situation. It is contended that this starting point accounts for a number of emphases of this work. Social relations at the human level, even the simplest, require emotional and intellectual capacities of a high order. The author calls attention to their productive character, which is necessary for the understanding of destructive social processes. It is argued that psychological processes have the extraordinary property of providing (under certain conditions) a knowledge of things and persons. One should not assume that they are generally subjective phantoms, that the world might be seen properly but for people. The author has kept in the forefront the human modes of experiencing the world of nature and men, since the social actions of which are those of conscious beings who act largely in terms of what they understand and feel. It is contended that sound progress requires a clarification of what is unique about social-psychological facts and their investigation on the level at which they reveal their special properties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)