Maps of Meaning

Written by Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan B. Peterson, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief describes an extensive rational theory of how humans construct meaning and why it is essential to human existence. Drawing on many disciplines—including neuroscience, psychology, history, myth, and religion—Peterson shows that connecting myths and beliefs with science is essential to fully understanding how people make meaning.

Peterson bolsters his theories through elaborate diagrams and references to personal anecdotes, the experiences of his patients, and the writings of thinkers like Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. While Maps of Meaning is certainly an original and complex work, some have criticized it for its generalizations and dismissal of historical materialism as a basis for human behavior.

Although the book received little attention when first published in 1999, its unabridged audiobook edition, released in June 2018, shot to the 4th place in the monthly Audio Nonfiction category on The New York Times Best Seller list. According to Peterson, until 2018, people didn’t know how to respond to the genre-defying book.

This guide follows the Routledge (US) 1999 edition.

Summary

Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief is a rational inquiry into why and how humans create meaning.