On psychodynamics of personal value-judgements - Nietzsche's theory of resentment and its reception by Karl Jaspers and Kurt Schneider.
A hundred years ago when Karl Jaspers was introducing psychological understanding to psychiatry the founder of the school of Heidelberg spoke of Friedrich Nietzsche as one of the "greatest" psychologists. Especially his theory of resentment with its core thesis unconscious prejudices were influencing our behaviour was able to illuminate the complex structure of human will. Taking into account this horizon of psychiatric history of ideas the presentation wants to persecute the following three questions: 1) Why the postulate which Nietzsche was giving on cultural prejudices of our thoughts, feelings and acts was so provocative so that many of the classical thinkers of psychological understanding were taking it up according to the needs of their disciplines sociology, psychology, psychiatry and philosophy? 2) What were the results of this inspiring theory which could be especially seen in the works of Karl Jaspers and Kurt Schneider? In other words: What were the aspects in which they agreed in their reception of Nietzsche and what were the points in which the two psychiatrists of the school of Heidelberg differed in the way they took the theory of resentment into account for their psychological understanding? 3) What could be the actual significance of the historical fact that Nietzsche and in his footsteps Max Weber were taking deep influence on psychiatric thinking around 1900?
Institute of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Matthias
M
Bormuth