Early Writings: Volume I

by Wilhelm Reich

This volume marked the beginning of the publication in English of Reich’s early writings. Subsequent English publications of Reich’s early writings would include The Bion Experiments on the Origin of Life in 1979, Genitality in 1980, and The Bioelectrical Investigation of Sexuality and Anxiety in 1982.

Together, these volumes trace Reich’s scientific development from his psychoanalytic study of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt–presented by Reich for his membership in the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society (1920)–to his first laboratory experiments to investigate the energy functions of sexuality and anxiety (1934), to his crucial discovery of the bions (1938), which initiated his work in orgone biophysics and led to the discovery of cosmic orgone energy.

Early Writings – Volume One includes “Libidinal Conflicts and Delusions in Ibsen’s Peer Gynt” (1920), “A Case of Pubertal Breaching of the Incest Taboo” (1920), “Coition and the Sexes” (1921), “Drive and Libido Concepts from Forel to Jung” (1922), “Concerning Specific Forms of Masturbation” (1922), “Two Narcissistic Types” (1922), “Concerning the Energy of Drives” (1923), “On From the Standpoint of Psychoanalytic Prognosis and Therapy” (1924), “The Psychogenic Tic as a Masturbation Equivalent” (1925), “Further Remarks on the Therapeutic Significance of Genital Libido” (1925), “A Hysterical Psychosis in Statu Nascendi” (1925), and “The Impulsive A Psychoanalytic Study of Ego Pathology” (1925).

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

428 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 1975

About the author

Wilhelm Reich (24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was a Jewish Austrian-American doctor of medicine, psychiatrist/psychoanalyst and a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. Author of several influential books, he became one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry.

Reich was a respected analyst for much of his life, focusing on character structure, rather than on individual neurotic symptoms. He promoted adolescent sexuality, the availability of contraceptives and abortion, and the importance for women of economic independence. Synthesizing material from psychoanalysis, cultural anthropology, economics, sociology, and ethics, his work influenced writers such as Alexander Lowen, Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman, Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer, A. S. Neill, and William Burroughs.

He was also a controversial figure, who came to be viewed by the psychoanalytic establishment as having gone astray or as having succumbed to mental illness. His work on the link between human sexuality and neuroses emphasized "orgastic potency" as the foremost criterion for psycho-physical health. He said he had discovered a form of energy, which he called "orgone," that permeated the atmosphere and all living matter, and he built "orgone accumulators," which his patients sat inside to harness the energy for its reputed health benefits. It was this work, in particular, that cemented the rift between Reich and the psychoanalytic establishment.

Reich, of Jewish descent and a communist, was living in Germany when Adolf Hitler came to power. He fled to Scandinavia in 1933 and subsequently to the United States in 1939. In 1947, following a series of critical articles about orgone and his political views in The New Republic and Harper's, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began an investigation into his claims, winning an injunction against the interstate sale of orgone accumulators. Charged with contempt of court for violating the injunction, Reich conducted his own defense, which involved sending the judge all his books to read, and arguing that a court was no place to decide matters of science. He was sentenced to two years in prison, and in August 1956, several tons of his publications were burned by the FDA. He died of heart failure in jail just over a year later, days before he was due to apply for parole.

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE POSTHUMOUS PUBLICATION OF VARIOUS "UNAVAILABLE" WRITINGS OF REICH'S

Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957) was an Austrian psychoanalyst, who tried to reconcile psychoanalysis with Marxism, and contended that neurosis is rooted in a lack of what he called "orgastic potency." He claimed to have discovered a cosmic sexual energy he calls “Orgone,” self-publishing books about his increasingly controversial theories, and selling “Orgone Accumulator” boxes commercially, for which he was ultimately imprisoned for violation of FDA regulations, had his books burned, and died in prison. He continues to be a popular (if polarizing) figure, and his books are all still in print, such as 'Character Analysis,' 'The Mass Psychology of Fascism,' 'Selected Writings: An Introduction to Orgonomy,' 'Bion Experiments,' 'Listen, Little Man!,' 'The Function of the Orgasm,' 'The Murder of Christ,' etc.

The Foreword to this posthumously-published book states, "Publication of Reich's early writings is... primarily to enable the serious reader to become familiar with studies which form the essential links in the evolution of his work from psychoanalysis to orgone biophysics. Confusion about the logic of this development ... may in part be attributed to the inaccessibility of these early writings. Some of them were never published; others were banned in Nazi Germany; while still others were dispersed throughout Europe in the troubled circumstances preceding World War II.

"Moreover... Reich had already separated himself from the psychoanalytic movement and had committed himself to the biophysical investigations which led to the discovery of orgone energy. He was therefore more interested in the publication of his later work. Now... we have the opportunity to examine the early writings in a manner that will enable us to discern a direction previously overlooked." (Pg. vii)

Reich states, "The first prerequisite for wanting to become 'one's self' and not one's father is the renouncement of the father, followed by the building of one's own strong personality. The second prerequisite is a striving for the capability to carry any and all responsibility. That is why people with a strong desire for independence, individuality, and self-identity often have very loose ties to family and home---or not ties at all; they react against the pull of early drives..." (Pg. 57)

He admits, "I am aware of the fact that my delineation of the differentiating factors is obscure and unelaborated. I am unable to comment further, but I do feel that obscure beginnings are more valuable than lucid but false findings." (Pg. 142)

He asserts, "Functionally the sexual drive is the motor aspect of all pleasure experienced in phylo- and ontogenesis; psychologically it is an expression of the memory of experienced pleasure." (Pg. 156) He adds, "In other cases where genital organization is established in childhood, we see that strong genitality, no matter how intense the subsequent repression to which it is subjected, is easily capable of resisting guilt. If, in analysis, we liberate genital libido from repression, we find it of great assistance against guilt feelings; it is their greatest opponent." (Pg. 172)

He states, "Consideration of the genital-libido position also offers valuable reference points when, after extended analysis, we are asked whether or not the patient can be released from treatment... Disappearance of symptoms does not indicate that recovery has taken place... persistence of symptoms does not indicate that recovery has not taken place." (Pg. 219)

He says, "Just as genital identification with the father ensures psychic health, and the possibility of transcending the paternal ideal liberates creative powers in men, in women vaginal identification with the (child-bearing) mother is a precondition for the ability to cope with reality as well as for subjective well-being." (Pg. 261)

He adds, "Just as, in analysis, tender libido finally reverts to pure organ libido, so infantile organ libido is progressively transformed into sublimated forms of tender libido. From the mother's breast, the libido proceeds to encompass the mother herself as the supplier of nourishment, love, and tranquility." (Pg. 277)

Reich's writings were, and are, very controversial. But this is a very interesting volume for students of his writings.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read. It's enjoyable to see the evolution of Reich's process.