Otto Gross
Encyclopedia
Otto Gross was an Austrian psychoanalyst. A maverick early disciple of Sigmund Freud
, he later became an anarchist and joined the utopian Ascona
community.
His father Hans Gross
was a judge turned pioneering criminologist. Otto initially collaborated with him, and then turned against his determinist ideas on character.
A champion of an early form of anti-psychiatry
and sexual liberation, he also developed an anarchist form of depth psychology
(which rejected the civilising necessity of psychological repression
proposed by Freud). He adopted a modified form of the proto-feminist and neo-pagan theories of Johann Jakob Bachofen
, with which he attempted to return civilization back to a postulated 'golden age
' of non-hierarchy. Gross was subsequently ostracized from the larger psychoanalytic movement, and was not included in histories of the psychoanalytic and psychiatric establishments. He died in poverty.
Greatly influenced by the philosophy of Max Stirner
and Friedrich Nietzsche
and the political theories of Peter Kropotkin
, he in turn influenced D. H. Lawrence
(through Gross' affair with Frieda von Richthofen
), Franz Kafka
and other artists, including the founders of Berlin Dada
. His influence on psychology was more limited. Carl Jung
claimed his entire worldview changed when he attempted to analyse Gross and partially had the tables turned on him.
As a Bohemian
drug user from early youth, as well as an advocate of free love
, he is sometimes credited as a founding grandfather of 20th Century Counterculture
.
credited Gross with having described two general types – "inferiority with shallow consciousness" and "inferiority with contracted consciousness" – that very closely resemble what Jung described as the extraverted feeling
and introverted thinking types a decade later. Despite having issues with Gross' theoretical assumptions of a secondary cell function and the "individual" nature of a person's passion, Jung credited Gross with major advances in typological and psychological theory.
In his 1913 work A Contribution to Psychological Types, Jung devoted a paragraph to Otto Gross' contributions.
In Jung's monumental work Psychological Types
, all of chapter VI, The Type Problem in Psychopathology, analyzes and reconciles Gross' theory as expressed in Die zerebrale Sekundärfunktion (1902) and Über psychopathische Minderwertigkeit (1903).
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
, he later became an anarchist and joined the utopian Ascona
Ascona
Ascona is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore.The town is a popular tourist destination, and holds a yearly jazz festival, the Ascona Jazz Festival....
community.
His father Hans Gross
Hans Gross
Hans Gustav Adolf Gross was an Austrian criminal jurist and an examining magistrate. He is believed to be the creator of the field of criminalistics; he taught as a professor at the Chernivtsi University, Prague University and the University of Graz, and established the Institute of Criminology in...
was a judge turned pioneering criminologist. Otto initially collaborated with him, and then turned against his determinist ideas on character.
A champion of an early form of anti-psychiatry
Anti-psychiatry
Anti-psychiatry is a configuration of groups and theoretical constructs that emerged in the 1960s, and questioned the fundamental assumptions and practices of psychiatry, such as its claim that it achieves universal, scientific objectivity. Its igniting influences were Michel Foucault, R.D. Laing,...
and sexual liberation, he also developed an anarchist form of depth psychology
Depth psychology
Historically, depth psychology, from a German term , was coined by Eugen Bleuler to refer to psychoanalytic approaches to therapy and research that take the unconscious into account. The term has come to refer to the ongoing development of theories and therapies pioneered by Pierre Janet, William...
(which rejected the civilising necessity of psychological repression
Psychological repression
Psychological repression, also psychic repression or simply repression, is the psychological attempt by an individual to repel one's own desires and impulses towards pleasurable instincts by excluding the desire from one's consciousness and holding or subduing it in the unconscious...
proposed by Freud). He adopted a modified form of the proto-feminist and neo-pagan theories of Johann Jakob Bachofen
Johann Jakob Bachofen
Johann Jakob Bachofen was a Swiss antiquarian, jurist and anthropologist, professor for Roman law at the University of Basel from 1841 to 1845....
, with which he attempted to return civilization back to a postulated 'golden age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
' of non-hierarchy. Gross was subsequently ostracized from the larger psychoanalytic movement, and was not included in histories of the psychoanalytic and psychiatric establishments. He died in poverty.
Greatly influenced by the philosophy of Max Stirner
Max Stirner
Johann Kaspar Schmidt , better known as Max Stirner , was a German philosopher, who ranks as one of the literary fathers of nihilism, existentialism, post-modernism and anarchism, especially of individualist anarchism...
and Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
and the political theories of Peter Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
, he in turn influenced D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
(through Gross' affair with Frieda von Richthofen
Frieda von Richthofen
Frieda Freiin von Richthofen , a distant relative of the "Red Baron" Manfred von Richthofen, who is best known for her marriage to the British novelist D. H. Lawrence.-Life:...
), Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
and other artists, including the founders of Berlin Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
. His influence on psychology was more limited. Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
claimed his entire worldview changed when he attempted to analyse Gross and partially had the tables turned on him.
As a Bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
drug user from early youth, as well as an advocate of free love
Free love
The term free love has been used to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage. The Free Love movement’s initial goal was to separate the state from sexual matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery...
, he is sometimes credited as a founding grandfather of 20th Century Counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
.
Contributions to Depth Psychology
Carl JungCarl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
credited Gross with having described two general types – "inferiority with shallow consciousness" and "inferiority with contracted consciousness" – that very closely resemble what Jung described as the extraverted feeling
Feeling
Feeling is the nominalization of the verb to feel. The word was first used in the English language to describe the physical sensation of touch through either experience or perception. The word is also used to describe experiences, other than the physical sensation of touch, such as "a feeling of...
and introverted thinking types a decade later. Despite having issues with Gross' theoretical assumptions of a secondary cell function and the "individual" nature of a person's passion, Jung credited Gross with major advances in typological and psychological theory.
In his 1913 work A Contribution to Psychological Types, Jung devoted a paragraph to Otto Gross' contributions.
The relation he [Gross] established between manic-depressive insanity and the type with a shallow consciousness shows that we are dealing with extraversion, while the relation between the psychology of the paranoiac and the type with a contracted consciousness indicates the identity with introversion (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 879).
In Jung's monumental work Psychological Types
Psychological Types
Psychological Types is the title of the sixth volume in the Princeton / Bollingen edition of the Collected Works of Carl Jung. The original German language edition, "Psychologische Typen", was first published by Rascher Verlag, Zurich in 1921....
, all of chapter VI, The Type Problem in Psychopathology, analyzes and reconciles Gross' theory as expressed in Die zerebrale Sekundärfunktion (1902) and Über psychopathische Minderwertigkeit (1903).
Gross deserves full credit for being the first to set up a simple and consistent hypothesis to account for this [the extraverted] type (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 466).
External links
- The Otto Gross Society is dedicated to preserving his work