Psychopathia Sexualis [Paperback]

Richard Von KrafftEbing (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1998

Controversial for decades, now finally back in print, this classic 19th-century work on so-called sexual deviation is the pioneering collection of case studies that cataloged and defined "perversion"--from fetishism to incest to homosexuality and much more. Informative and entertaining, PSYCHOPATHIA SEXUALIS is considered one of the most important documents in humankind's modern efforts to understand itself.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing (November 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155970425X
• ISBN-13: 978-1559704250
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,285,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Krafft-Ebing reshaped sexual prejudice for the 20th c., July 30, 2001

By 

"whitmanfan7" (San Francisco State University) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Psychopathia Sexualis: The Case Histories (Paperback)

That some readers still take Krafft-Ebing at face value is testament to the strength of the sexual prejudices that he helped re-formulate at the end of the 19th century. Anyone seeking to understand the ideological basis of present-day sexual prejudices, or the official pathologization of human sexual diversity should become familiar with Krafft-Ebing's seminal work. Anyone seeking to understand human sexuality, on the other hand, should be warned that Krafft-Ebing is more joke than role model for modern-day sex researchers. The book is viewed by historians of sexuality as largely a (very influential) re-formulation of existing folk-lore. Unfortunately, the resulting formulas were used by Krafft-Ebing (a court psychiatrist) and his peers for the purpose of channelling people into either prisons or equally confining asylums. He set a pattern that is still widely used, and that is still viewed with horror by both sexual non-conformists and true scientists alike.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be mandatory for anyone interested in human sexuality, October 18, 2000

By 

Vanissa W. Chan "vandelist" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Psychopathia Sexualis (Paperback)

Preceding Freud's work over twenty years, Krafft-Ebing's works are classic, and should be mandatory for anyone interested in human sexuality, especially sexual deviance. Psychopathia Sexualis is a compilation of Krafft-Ebing's casework (over 200 cases documented) involving bizarre, perverse, and sexually confused subjects. In reading this, I found that the questions I thought I clearly had answers to, I really did not, and that in fact, I had more questions about human sexuality than ever before. The cases dive deep into the personal history of each subject, and Krafft-Ebing objectively provides physiological aspects (that you may or may not take as explanatory factors) and the subject's reasoning for their deviant behavior. Instead of providing direct answers that are more likely to be declared in postmodern literature, Krafft-Ebing presents only facts, understanding that one single evaluation could never explain the "why's" and the "how's" of human behavior.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very interesting historically and psychologically, February 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Psychopathia Sexualis: The Case Histories (Paperback)

Basically a catalogue in case history form of almost all sexual perversions, but written a century ago, this book is informative for those who wish to learn about deviant or unconventional sexuality or those who have an interest in the history of sex or psychiatry. It is especially remarkable how little has changed in terms of actual perversions since the book was first written, most case histories could easily be transplanted to the year 2000 without substantial change.

Why there is such a variety of perversions in human (male, mostly) affairs, some quite useless and/or bizarre, and why these have remained in the human species (despite an apparent natural selective pressure against them since these unfortunate individuals are less likely to reproduce), is truly a great mystery of psychology, one which few if any are willing to confront directly.

From a historical perspective, it is interesting to see how homosexuality is treated as a deviance, which of course it isn't, and how persistent the author is in attempting to cure everyone of their unnatural desires, whereas today it is unlikely (except in the obviously criminal situations of pedophilia, etc.), any psychiatrist would try to reform the sadist, masochist, fetishist, etc., knowing it is a virtually impossible undertaking. In short, very entertaining in general, very disgusting in places, informative and revealing: perfect reading.