Oswald Bumke
Encyclopedia
Oswald Bumke was an important and famous German
psychiatrist
and neurologist
. His time in Leipzig from 1921 to 1924 and subsequently in Munich up to the mid-1930s saw the second major phase in his scientific work, during which he laid the basis for the renown he still enjoys as a result of his specialist encyclopedic textbooks and manuals summarising the current knowledge of his time. At the beginning of the 1920s he made his stand on the burning issues of the day and thus influenced the conceptional history of the subject. For instance, he proposed his own philosophical psychology, rejecting the experimental psychological approach of Emil Kraepelin
. By challenging the libido
theory and the dynamic unconscious he weakened the impact of Sigmund Freud
and psychoanalysis
on German scientific psychiatry. Moreover, Bumke strongly opposed the prevailing concept of degeneration and its main protagonist Ernst Rüdin
. Owing to the political and social developments at the time, however, he was not able to raise much support among his colleagues.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
psychiatrist
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
and neurologist
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
. His time in Leipzig from 1921 to 1924 and subsequently in Munich up to the mid-1930s saw the second major phase in his scientific work, during which he laid the basis for the renown he still enjoys as a result of his specialist encyclopedic textbooks and manuals summarising the current knowledge of his time. At the beginning of the 1920s he made his stand on the burning issues of the day and thus influenced the conceptional history of the subject. For instance, he proposed his own philosophical psychology, rejecting the experimental psychological approach of Emil Kraepelin
Emil Kraepelin
Emil Kraepelin was a German psychiatrist. H.J. Eysenck's Encyclopedia of Psychology identifies him as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, as well as of psychopharmacology and psychiatric genetics. Kraepelin believed the chief origin of psychiatric disease to be biological and genetic...
. By challenging the libido
Libido
Libido refers to a person's sex drive or desire for sexual activity. The desire for sex is an aspect of a person's sexuality, but varies enormously from one person to another, and it also varies depending on circumstances at a particular time. A person who has extremely frequent or a suddenly...
theory and the dynamic unconscious he weakened the impact of Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
and psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
on German scientific psychiatry. Moreover, Bumke strongly opposed the prevailing concept of degeneration and its main protagonist Ernst Rüdin
Ernst Rüdin
Ernst Rüdin , was a Swiss psychiatrist, geneticist and eugenicist. Rüdin was born in St. Gallen, Switzerland...
. Owing to the political and social developments at the time, however, he was not able to raise much support among his colleagues.