Biomaterial Database

Philosophical whitewashing. Ludwig Binswanger (1881-1966) and the sterilisation of manic-depressive patients. 2011

Chantal Marazia

Europa Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder, Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultät. chantalmarazia@gmail.com

The Swiss psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger is known as the founder of the Daseinsanalyse (existential analysis) and more generally for having applied contemporary philosophical concepts and theories to psychiatry. The fortune of the philosopher Binswanger constituted a formidable obstacle to a historical scrutiny of his actual clinical practice. In the long run, the philosopher overshadowed the psychiatrist. The present paper takes the move from a "minor" work, an essay on the sterilisation of manic-depressive patients Binswanger published in 1938. This essay represents a rare exception in Binswanger's scientific production in many respects: for its editorial collocation, for the subject (a concrete medical intervention) and the complete absence of philosophical references. Nevertheless, or precisely for this reason, the essay has been largely ignored by the scholarship, both of Swiss eugenics and of Binswanger himself. This paper explores the epistemological circumstances of this negligence and its historiographic significance, with special attention to the philosophical-anthropological refashioning of a psychiatric myth.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010686	Philosophy, Medical	The underlying rationale or theoretical basis for the principles of MEDICINE.	Medical Philosophy
D011570	Psychiatry	The medical science that deals with the origin, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders.
D005053	Eugenics	The attempt to improve the PHENOTYPES of future generations of the human population by fostering the reproduction of those with favorable phenotypes and GENOTYPES and hampering or preventing BREEDING by those with "undesirable" phenotypes and genotypes. The concept is largely discredited. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)	Negative Eugenics,Positive Eugenics,Eugenics, Negative,Eugenics, Positive
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001714	Bipolar Disorder	A major affective disorder marked by severe mood swings (manic or major depressive episodes) and a tendency to remission and recurrence.	Affective Psychosis, Bipolar,Bipolar Disorder Type 1,Bipolar Disorder Type 2,Bipolar Mood Disorder,Depression, Bipolar,Manic Depression,Manic Disorder,Manic-Depressive Psychosis,Psychosis, Manic-Depressive,Type 1 Bipolar Disorder,Type 2 Bipolar Disorder,Psychoses, Manic-Depressive,Bipolar Affective Psychosis,Bipolar Depression,Bipolar Disorders,Bipolar Mood Disorders,Depression, Manic,Depressions, Manic,Disorder, Bipolar,Disorder, Bipolar Mood,Disorder, Manic,Manic Depressive Psychosis,Manic Disorders,Mood Disorder, Bipolar,Psychoses, Bipolar Affective,Psychoses, Manic Depressive,Psychosis, Bipolar Affective,Psychosis, Manic Depressive
D013245	Sterilization, Reproductive	Procedures to block or remove all or part of the genital tract for the purpose of rendering individuals sterile, incapable of reproduction. Surgical sterilization procedures are the most commonly used. There are also sterilization procedures involving chemical or physical means.	Reproductive Sterilization,Voluntary Sterilization,Female Sterilization,Female Sterilization, Voluntary,Male Sterilization,Male Sterilization, Voluntary,Female Sterilizations,Female Sterilizations, Voluntary,Male Sterilizations,Male Sterilizations, Voluntary,Reproductive Sterilizations,Sterilization, Female,Sterilization, Male,Sterilization, Voluntary,Sterilizations, Female,Sterilizations, Male,Sterilizations, Reproductive,Sterilizations, Voluntary,Voluntary Female Sterilization,Voluntary Female Sterilizations,Voluntary Male Sterilization,Voluntary Male Sterilizations,Voluntary Sterilizations
D013557	Switzerland	A country in Europe. It is bordered by Austria, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, and Germany. The capital is Bern.
D049672	History, 19th Century	Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era.	19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History
D049673	History, 20th Century	Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.	20th Century History,20th Cent. History (Medicine),20th Cent. History of Medicine,20th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 20th Century,History of Medicine, 20th Cent.,History, Twentieth Century,Medical History, 20th Cent.,Medicine, 20th Cent.,20th Cent. Histories (Medicine),20th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 20th (Medicine),Cent. History, 20th (Medicine),Century Histories, 20th,Century Histories, Twentieth,Century History, 20th,Century History, Twentieth,Histories, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 20th Century,Histories, Twentieth Century,History, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Twentieth Century Histories,Twentieth Century History