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Wilhelm Reich

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Wilhelm Reich

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Austrian-American psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, sex educator and sociologist (1897–1957)

AI overview

Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who worked in the early-to-mid 20th century and became known for his unconventional ideas about psychology, sexuality, and society. His work remains historically significant because he challenged mainstream psychoanalytic thinking and influenced later discussions about the connections between mental health, sexual freedom, and social structures, though many of his theories were controversial and rejected by the scientific community.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
24 March 1897
Died
3 November 1957
Works
196

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Dobzau, Galica, Austria

Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian doctor of medicine and psychoanalyst, a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author of several influential books, most notably Character Analysis (1933), The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933) and The Sexual Revolution (1936), Reich became known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry.

Known for

  • Who is afraid of Wilhelm Reich? — Self (archive footage)2009
  • The Century of the Self — Self (archive footage)2002
  • WR: Mysteries of the Organism — Himself1971

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Origin
United States
Active from
1897
Active to
1957
ambientamericanclassicalcomposercontemporary classicalminimalism

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
36
Total plays
64

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Wilhelm+Reich">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Wilhelm Reich

Quotes

  • Liebe, Arbeit und Wissen sind die Quellen unseres Lebens. Sie sollen es auch regieren.
  • It is sexual energy which governs the structure of human feeling and thinking.
  • Unless we proceed cautiously, there might well arise a few generations of mystics who conceive of the orgone metaphysically, divorced from non-living nature and who do not comprehend it from the standpoint of natural science. And it seems to me that we have more than enough mysticism as it is.
  • The discovery of orgone energy was made through consistent, thorough study of energy functions, first in the realm of the psyche, and later in the realm of biological functioning.
  • Rooting in work is crucial to any accomplishment. Rooting in mere enthusiasm will in the long run force illusory measures to keep the fires of empty enthusiasm going. And this makes politics and politicians.
  • Most intellectual people do not believe in God, but they fear him just the same.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Official website

Orgonon: A State of Mind. And Body.

Orgonon is the 200 acre estate in Rangeley, Maine where the legacy of Wilhelm Reich is preserved. The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

wilhelmreichtrust.org

Link to the official site · 11,581 chars · not written by Vinony

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Wilhelm Reich (/raɪx/; Austrian German: [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈraɪç]; 24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was an Austrian doctor of medicine and a psychoanalyst, a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author of several influential books, The Impulsive Character (1925), The Function of the Orgasm (1927), Character Analysis (1933), and The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933), he became one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry.

Reich's work on character contributed to the development of Anna Freud's The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence (1936), and his idea of muscular armour—the expression of the personality in the way the body moves—shaped innovations such as body psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy, bioenergetic analysis and primal therapy. His writing influenced generations of intellectuals; he coined the phrase "the sexual revolution" and according to one historian acted as its midwife. During the 1968 student uprisings in Paris and Berlin, students scrawled his name on walls and threw copies of The Mass Psychology of Fascism at police.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Wilhelm Reich” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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