The author calls for a re-examination of our basic conceptions of man from a psychophilosophical point of view. It is asserted that humananistic psychology's contemporary view of man as as being of good character, of rational thought, and of constructive conduct is contradicted by the events seen in daily news reports: mass murder, bomb scares, political corruption, razor blades found in children's Halloween apples. It is suggested that this qualitative conception of human nature will remain until man accepts the reality of life and stops using the defense mechanism, denial. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)