Geburtstag: 24. März 1897
Todesdatum: 3. November 1957
Wilhelm Reich war ein österreichisch-US-amerikanischer Arzt, Psychiater, Psychoanalytiker, Sexualforscher und Soziologe. Reich fand Zusammenhänge zwischen psychischen und muskulären Panzerungen und entwickelte die Therapiemethode der Psychoanalyse zur Charakteranalyse und diese zur Vegetotherapie weiter. Letztere gilt als Grundlage für verschiedene später begründete Körperpsychotherapien.
Seine parallel dazu durchgeführten mikrobiologischen Forschungen führten ihn zur „Entdeckung des Orgons“, einer „primordialen“ Energie, deren Existenz außerhalb von Reichs Schülerkreis nicht anerkannt wurde und auch heute nicht anerkannt wird.
Christusmord, Übers. aus dem Englischen von Bernd A. Laska. Olten und Freiburg/Br.: Walter-Verlag 1978 (Engl. Orig.: The Murder of Christ, Orgone Institute Press, Rangeley ME/USA 1953)
"It is the BASIC EVASION OF THE ESSENTIAL which is the problem of man." - The Murder of Christ - The Emotional Plague of Mankind. Noonday Press, 1966. p. 4 books.google http://books.google.de/books?id=SebYAAAAMAAJ&q=essential
Rede an den kleinen Mann, Fischer Taschenbuch 6777, Frankfurt/M., Juni 1984, S. 11 (Deutsche Erstausgabe; zuerst ersch. in engl. Übersetzung: Listen Little Man, New York: Orgone Institute Press 1948)
ähnlich:
"Liebe, Arbeit und Wissen sind die Quellen unseres Daseins. Sie sollen es auch regieren." - Motto auf dem Vorsatzblatt der meisten deutschen Ausgaben von Reichs Büchern, die ab 1966 ("Die Sexuelle Revolution". Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Frankfurt/M.) erschienen. Erstmals gedruckt in englischer Sprache in "The Function of the Orgasm", Orgone Institute Press, New York 1942.
Love, work and knowledge are the well-springs of our life. They should also govern it." - books.google http://books.google.de/books?id=azIEAQAAIAAJ&q=well-springs
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus
Vorwort zur revidierten Neuauflage, die zunächst 1945 in englischer Übersetzung unter dem Titel "The Mass Psychology of Fascism" erschien, zitiert nach der deutschen Ausgabe "Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus", Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 1971, S. 15.
Rede an den kleinen Mann, Fischer Taschenbuch 6777, Frankfurt/M., Juni 1984, S. 79 (Deutsche Erstausgabe; zuerst ersch. in engl. Übersetzung: "Listen Little Man", New York: Orgone Institute Press 1948 )
November 1935) — Die Sexualität im Kulturkampf, Kopenhagen: Sexpol-Verlag 1936, Vorwort, S. XVI
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Die Sexualität im Kulturkampf
Motto auf dem Vorsatzblatt der meisten deutschen Ausgaben von Reichs Büchern, die 1966 und später erschienen, zitiert in "Die Sexuelle Revolution". Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt/M 1999, 15. Auflage, ISBN 3-596-26749-8, S. 7, erstmals veröffentlicht in "Die Funktion des Orgasmus" 1927
Variante: Liebe, Arbeit und Wissen sind die Quellen unseres Lebens. Sie sollen es auch regieren.
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus
Preface to the Third Edition (August 1942)<!---->
The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933)
Kontext: In its pure form, fascism is the sum total of all irrational reactions of the average human character. To the narrow-minded sociologist who lacks the courage to recognize the enormous role played by the irrational in human history, the fascist race theory appears as nothing but an imperialistic interest or even a mere "prejudice." The violence and the ubiquity of these "race prejudices" show their origin from the irrational part of the human character. The race theory is not a creation of fascism. No: fascism is a creation of race hatred and its politically organized expression. Correspondingly, there is a German, Italian, Spanish, Anglo-Saxon, Jewish and Arabian fascism.
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus
Preface to the Third Edition (August 1942)
The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933)
Kontext: In the strictly Marxist sense, there is not even in Soviet Russia a state socialism but a state capitalism. According to Marx, the social condition "capitalism" does not consist in the existence of individual capitalists, but in the existence of the specific "capitalist mode of production", that is, in the production of exchange values instead of use values, in wage work of the masses and in the production of surplus value, which is appropriated by the state or the private owners, and not by the society of working people. In this strictly Marxist sense, the capitalistic system continues to exist in Russia. And it will continue to exist as long as the masses of people continue to lack responsibility and to crave authority.
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Listen, Little Man!
Listen, Little Man! (1948)
Kontext: You are different from the really great man in only one thing: The great man, at one time, also was a very little man, but he developed one important ability: he learned to see where he was small in his thinking, and actions. Under the pressure of some task which was dear to him he learned better and better to sense the threat that comes from his smallness and pettiness. The great man, then, knows when and in what he is a little man.
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Listen, Little Man!
Listen, Little Man! (1948)
Kontext: You beg for happiness in life, but security is more important to you, even if it costs you your spine or your life. Your life will be good and secure when aliveness will mean more to you than security; love more than money; your freedom more than party line or public opinion; when your thinking will be in harmony with your feelings; when the teachers of your children will be better paid than the politicians; when you will have more respect for the love between man and woman than for a marriage license.
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Listen, Little Man!
Listen, Little Man! (1948)
Kontext: "What right do you have to tell me things?" I can see this question in your apprehensive look. I hear this question from your impertinent mouth, Little Man. You are afraid to look at yourself, you are afraid of criticism, Little Man, just as you are afraid of the power they promise you. You would not know how to use this power. You dare not think that you ever might experience your self differently: free instead of cowed; open instead of tactical; loving openly instead of like a thief in the night. You despise yourself Little Man. You say: "Who am I to have an opinion of my own, to determine my own life and to declare the world to be mine?" You are right: Who are you to make a claim to your life?
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Listen, Little Man!
Listen, Little Man! (1948)
Kontext: The kindly individual believes that all people are kindly and act accordingly. The plague individual believes that all people lie, swindle, steal and crave power. Clearly, then, the living is at a disadvantage and in danger.
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus
Preface to the Third Edition (August 1942)
The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933)
Kontext: In the strictly Marxist sense, there is not even in Soviet Russia a state socialism but a state capitalism. According to Marx, the social condition "capitalism" does not consist in the existence of individual capitalists, but in the existence of the specific "capitalist mode of production", that is, in the production of exchange values instead of use values, in wage work of the masses and in the production of surplus value, which is appropriated by the state or the private owners, and not by the society of working people. In this strictly Marxist sense, the capitalistic system continues to exist in Russia. And it will continue to exist as long as the masses of people continue to lack responsibility and to crave authority.
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus
Section 3 : Work Democracy versus Politics. The Natural Social Forces for the Mastery of the Emotional Plague.
The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933), Ch. 10 : Work Democracy
Kontext: For a decade, the politics of the European dictators was unrivalled. In order to comprehend the essence of politics, one only has to remember that it was a Hitler who, for many years, was able to keep the world breathless. Hitler as a political genius was a magnificent unmasking of the essence of politics in general. With Hitler, politics reached the peak of its development. We know what were its fruits and what was the reaction of the world. In brief, I believe that the twentieth century, with its gigantic catastrophes, ushers in a new social era, an era free of politics. It remains to be seen what part politics will play in the eradication of the political emotional plague and what part the consciously organized functions of love, work and knowledge.
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus
Section 3 : Work Democracy versus Politics. The Natural Social Forces for the Mastery of the Emotional Plague
The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933), Ch. 10 : Work Democracy
Kontext: MAN IS FUNDAMENTALLY AN ANIMAL. Animals, as distinct from man, are not machine-like, not sadistic; their societies, within the same species, are incomparably more peaceful than those of man. The basic question, then is: What has made the animal, man, degenerate into a machine?
When I say "animal," I do not mean anything bad, cruel or "base"; I am stating a biological fact. Man has developed the peculiar concept that he is not an animal at all, but, well — man; a creature which long since has shed that which is "bad," which is "animal." He demarcates himself in all possible ways from the bad animal and points, in proof of his "being better," to culture and civilization which distinguish him from the animal. He shows, in his whole behavior, his "theories of values," his moral philosophies, his "monkey trials" and such, that he does not want to be reminded of the fact that basically he is an animal, an animal, furthermore, which has much more in common with the "animal" than with that being which he asserts to be and dreams of being. The theory of the German Übermensch has this origin. Man shows by his maliciousness, his inability to live in peace with his kind, his wars, that what distinguishes him from the other animals is only his unbounded sadism and the mechanical trinity of the authoritarian concept of life, mechanistic science and the machine. If one looks at the results of civilization as they present themselves over long periods of time, one finds that these contentions of man are not only erroneous; more than that, they seem to be made expressly for the purpose of making man forget that he is an animal.
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus
Section 3 : Work Democracy versus Politics. The Natural Social Forces for the Mastery of the Emotional Plague
The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933), Ch. 10 : Work Democracy
Kontext: MAN IS FUNDAMENTALLY AN ANIMAL. Animals, as distinct from man, are not machine-like, not sadistic; their societies, within the same species, are incomparably more peaceful than those of man. The basic question, then is: What has made the animal, man, degenerate into a machine?
When I say "animal," I do not mean anything bad, cruel or "base"; I am stating a biological fact. Man has developed the peculiar concept that he is not an animal at all, but, well — man; a creature which long since has shed that which is "bad," which is "animal." He demarcates himself in all possible ways from the bad animal and points, in proof of his "being better," to culture and civilization which distinguish him from the animal. He shows, in his whole behavior, his "theories of values," his moral philosophies, his "monkey trials" and such, that he does not want to be reminded of the fact that basically he is an animal, an animal, furthermore, which has much more in common with the "animal" than with that being which he asserts to be and dreams of being. The theory of the German Übermensch has this origin. Man shows by his maliciousness, his inability to live in peace with his kind, his wars, that what distinguishes him from the other animals is only his unbounded sadism and the mechanical trinity of the authoritarian concept of life, mechanistic science and the machine. If one looks at the results of civilization as they present themselves over long periods of time, one finds that these contentions of man are not only erroneous; more than that, they seem to be made expressly for the purpose of making man forget that he is an animal.
General Survey
The Function of the Orgasm (1927)
Kontext: Nature and culture, instinct and morality, sexuality and achievement become incompatible as a result of the split in the human structure. The unity and congruity of culture and nature, work and love, morality and sexuality, longed for from time immemorial, will remain a dream as long as man continues to condemn the biological demand for natural (orgastic) sexual gratification.
General Survey
The Function of the Orgasm (1927)
Kontext: Psychic health depends on orgastic potency, i. e., upon the degree to which one can surrender to and experience the climax of excitation in the natural sexual act. It is founded upon the healthy character attitude of the individual's capacity for love. Psychic illnesses are the result of a disturbance of the natural capacity for love.
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Listen, Little Man!
Listen, Little Man! (1948)
Kontext: You will no longer believe that you "don't count." You will know and advocate your knowledge that you are the bearer of human society. Don't run away. Don't be afraid. It is not so terrible to be the responsible bearer of human society. Inflated leaders would have no soldiers and no arms if you clearly knew, and stood up for your knowledge, that a field has to yield wheat and a factory furniture or shoes, and not arms.
— Wilhelm Reich, buch Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus
Section 3 : Work Democracy versus Politics. The Natural Social Forces for the Mastery of the Emotional Plague;
Variant translation: The cry for freedom is a sign of suppression. It will never cease as long as man feels himself to be trapped. No matter how different the cries for freedom may be, at bottom they always express one and the same thing: the intolerableness of the organism's rigidity and the mechanical institutions of life, which are sharply at variance with the natural sensations of life. ... Not until man acknowledges that he is fundamentally an animal, will he be able to create a genuine culture.
The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933), Ch. 10 : Work Democracy
Kontext: The cry for freedom is a sign of suppression. It will not cease to ring as long as man feels himself captive. As diverse as the cries for freedom may be, basically they all express one and the same thing: The intolerability of the rigidity of the organism and of the machine-like institutions which create a sharp conflict with the natural feelings for life. Not until there is a social order in which all cries for freedom subside will man have overcome his biological and social crippling, will he have attained genuine freedom. Not until man is willing to recognize his animal nature — in the good sense of the word — will he create genuine culture.
