Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus's Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry [Paperback]

Thomas Szasz (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Syracuse University Press (March 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815602472
• ISBN-13: 978-0815602477
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,042,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genius, by fermed, May 20, 2000

By 

Fernando Melendez "fermed" (San Diego, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus's Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry (Paperback)

Freud tried to cozy up to him (and was rejected); his work was fundamental to Wittgenstein's philosophico-linguistic theories, and three times he was nominated for the Nobel prize in literature by French academicians; yet he remains essentially unknown in this country, despite this marvelous exegesis of his work by Thomas Szasz, which was published in 1976.

Karl Kraus (1874-1936) was, and continues to be, an embarrassment to many intellectuals. His punishment has been to have his work misread, misinterpreted, untranslated, and finally ignored. He has been attacked as being antisemitic ("self-hating Jew"), mentally disturbed, and (symbolically) envious of his father's penis.

Kraus's commentaries and aphorisms concerning psychiatry and psychoanalysis are delightful, powerful, and as accurate today as when he uttered them. Szasz, who has been fighting the good battle against psychiatric abuses and pretensions all of his career, is the ideal person to introduce Americans to Kraus and his work. A short, well indexed book. Worth having to keep and to read over from time to time.

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Freud's frauds uncovered by Vienna's HL Mencken, July 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus's Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry (Paperback)

The most telling line against Freudianism: "Psycho-analysts are the disease posing as the cure". Kraus had a real nose for blather and imposture, and dissected the Vienna circle around Freud as Mencken did the fundementalists. An exposure to Kraus is a sure and certain innoculation of the psychobabble that passes nowdays as charcter analysis. Take two hours to slowly devour, digest, and delight in this tasty intellectual treat.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two great wits in one book, November 18, 2001

By 

Nicolas S. Martin (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus's Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry (Paperback)

What a combination: Kraus, the man who first denuded the emperor Freud, and Szasz, the man who methodically stripped psychiatry/psychotherapy of any scientific pretensions. Aside from a lesson in history, a major debunking of psychiatric fraud, and an interesting biography, this book is a lot of fun. Kraus ranks with Twain and Mencken as an aphorist, and Szasz's translations of the original German make the quotes ring clear and powerful.