The birth of schizophrenia or a very modern Bleuler: a close reading of Eugen Bleuler’s ‘Die Prognose der Dementia praecox’ and a re-consideration of his contribution to psychiatry
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Media type:
E-Article
Title:
The birth of schizophrenia or a very modern Bleuler: a close reading of Eugen Bleuler’s ‘Die Prognose der Dementia praecox’ and a re-consideration of his contribution to psychiatry
Contributor:
Maatz, Anke;
Hoff, Paul
Published:
SAGE Publications, 2014
Published in:
History of Psychiatry, 25 (2014) 4, Seite 431-440
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1177/0957154x14546606
ISSN:
0957-154X;
1740-2360
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
<jats:p> After Eugen Bleuler introduced ‘schizophrenia’ in 1908, the term was hotly debated but eventually led to the abandonment of Kraepelin’s previous term ‘dementia praecox’. Bleuler’s contribution has subsequently been interpreted in two main ways. One tradition holds that Bleuler merely renamed ‘dementia praecox’ while conceptually continuing the Kraepelinian tradition. The other, focusing on Bleuler’s characterization of ‘dementia praecox’ in terms of specific psychological alterations, accredits him with a genuine re-conceptualization. Based on a close reading of ‘Die Prognose der Dementia praecox’, the paper in which Bleuler first mentioned ‘schizophrenia’, we suggest a further interpretation of Bleuler’s contribution and argue that the main motive for his re-conceptualization is to be found in his rejection of Kraepelinian nosology. </jats:p>