Description
“Publication of Reich’s early writings at this time is not merely to provide the evidence that established him as a pioneer in psychoanalysis, but 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 has contributed to the skepticism that has greeted his discoveries and to the hostility which surrounded his person and led to his untimely and tragic death. This confusion 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, prior to his immigration to the United States in 1939, 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.”
Chester M. Raphael, M.D.
(from the Foreword)
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 Genitality: 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 Character: A Psychoanalytic Study of Ego Pathology” (1925).
