Summer 2004, order now




Szasz Under Fire
The Psychiatric Abolitionist Faces His Critics

Edited by Jeffrey A. Schaler

OPEN COURT PUBLISHERS
Chicago, Illinois
Distributed by Publishers Group West
ISBN 0-8126-9568-2
472 pages

PSYCHOLOGY/PHILOSOPHY
$36.95

Since he published The Myth of Mental Illness in 1961, Thomas Szasz has been a provocative and polarizing figure, bitterly denounced by some, lovingly defended by others, simultaneously baffling, exasperating, and entertaining to many.

In Szasz Under Fire, thirteen outstanding writers criticize Szasz's ideas on specific issues such as the reality of mental illness, physician-assisted suicide, addiction, and the insanity defense. Szasz replies to each criticism in detail, with his famous clarity, forcefulness, and occasional acerbity. Szasz Under Fire includes the first published autobiographical essay by Szasz and a complete bibliography of his writings.

The foremost opponent of psychiatric dogma, psychiatric practice, and the hubris of politicized medicine, Szasz has argued passionately and knowledgeably against compulsory commitment of the mentally ill, against the war on drugs, against the insanity defense in criminal trials, against the "diseasing" of addiction and homosexuality, and for the right to suicide.

His books include Sex by Prescription (1980), The Untamed Tongue (1990), Our Right to Drugs (1992), Cruel Compassion (1994), Fatal Freedom (1999), Pharmacracy (2001), and Liberation by Oppression (2002).

[Click here for high-resolution digital photograph of Szasz.]

"Anyone who has ever had qualms about the state giving psychiatrists the power to use drugs and civil commitment to control its citizens on the basis of 'mental illness' will be deeply rewarded by this stellar intellectual performance by Szasz, who not only holds his liberty-centered ground, but often gains more in direct and sometimes brutally frank responses to his critics and would-be reshapers of his life's work."

-GEORGE J. ANNAS
Professor and Chair, Department of Health, Bioethics, and Human Rights, Boston University School of Public Health, and author of The Rights of Patients

"This dialogue between Dr. Szasz and his critics allows him to once again articulate the argument he has presented so brilliantly and passionately for over four decades. . . . A profession that fails to learn from and respect those who confront it with controversial and discomforting ideas loses strength and vibrancy. Hopefully, at least some younger psychiatrists will be encouraged to read this book. They will find that their intellectual and professional lives will be enriched."

-SEYMOUR L. HALLECK
Author of Law in the Practice of Psychiatry and The Mentally Disordered Offender


Dr. Jeffrey A. Schaler is a psychologist, psychotherapist, teacher, and writer. He wrote Addiction Is a Choice, which became the centerpiece of a controversial John Stossel TV documentary, edited Drugs: Should We Legalize, Decriminalize, or Deregulate?, and co-edited Smoking: Who Has the Right? jeffschaler@attglobal.net
[Click here for photo of Schaler.]

Reviewed in:

  • History of Psychiatry, Volume 16, pp. 375-376, September 2005

  • Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 293: 2, pp. 240-241, January 12, 2005

  • Click here for letters in reply to the JAMA review

  • New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 352:12 pp. 1273-1274, March 24, 2005

  • Reason, Volume 37:1 pp. 57-63, May, 2005

  • Choice, Volume 42:8 p.1433, April, 2005

    Szasz Under Fire
    The Psychiatric Abolitionist Faces His Critics

    Edited by Jeffrey A. Schaler

    OPEN COURT PUBLISHERS
    Chicago, Illinois
    2004

    Table of Contents

    Introduction
    JEFFREY A. SCHALER

    An Autobiographical Sketch
    THOMAS SZASZ

    1. The Myth of Mental Illness
    R. E. KENDELL

    Reply to Kendell
    THOMAS SZASZ

    2. Values-Based Medicine:
    Thomas Szasz' Legacy to Twenty-First Century Psychiatry
    K.W.M. (BILL) FULFORD

    Reply to Fulford
    THOMAS SZASZ

    3. Persons and Popper's World 3: Do Humans Dream of Abstract Sheep?
    RAY SCOTT PERCIVAL

    Reply to Percival
    THOMAS SZASZ

    4. On Thomas Szasz, the Meaning of Mental Illness, and the Therapeutic State: A Critique
    RALPH SLOVENKO

    Reply to Slovenko
    THOMAS SZASZ

    5. Prescribed Addiction
    STANTON PEELE

    Reply to Peele
    THOMAS SZASZ

    6. The Legitimacy of the Defense of Insanity
    RITA J. SIMON

    Reply to Simon
    THOMAS SZASZ

    7. Pharmacracy or Phantom?
    E. JAMES LIEBERMAN

    Reply to Lieberman
    THOMAS SZASZ

    8. Bombing the Cradles:
    The Disorder Mental Effects of Off-the-Chart Life Experiences:
    Mother-Assault; Sexual Abuse and Domestic Violence;
    Natural Disasters; Political Violence and War.
    MARGARET A. HAGEN

    Reply to Hagen
    THOMAS SZASZ

    9. What Kind of Freedom?
    Szasz' Misleading Perception of Physician-Assisted Suicide
    MARGARET P. BATTIN AND RYAN SPELLECY

    Reply to Battin and Spellecy
    THOMAS SZASZ

    10. Sideshow?: Schizophrenia as construed by Szasz and the neoKraepelinians
    RICHARD P. BENTALL

    Reply to Bentall
    THOMAS SZASZ

    11. Moving Beyond the "Myth" of Mental Illness
    RONALD PIES

    Reply to Pies
    THOMAS SZASZ

    12. Mental Illness as a Myth: A Methodological Re-interpretation
    H. TRISTRAM ENGELHARDT, JR.

    Reply to Engelhardt
    THOMAS SZASZ

    Appendix
    Documents from the Szasz Affair at Upstate

    Bibliography of
    THOMAS SZASZ
    COMPILED BY
    Jeffrey A. Schaler
    And with the assistance of
    Antonio F. Mastroniani



    About the Authors

    MARGARET P. BATTIN, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy and Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Ethics, at the University of Utah. She has authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited twelve books, including The Least Worst Death (1994) and Praying for a Cure (with Peggy DesAutels and Larry May, 1999).

    RICHARD P. BENTALL, Ph. D., was appointed to a chair in Experimental Clinical Psychology at the University of Manchester in 1999. His books include Sensory Deception: Towards a Scientific Analysis of Hallucinations (with P.D. Slade, 1988) and Madness Explained: Psychosis and Human Nature (2003).

    H. TRISTRAM ENGELHARDT, Jr., Ph.D., M.D., is Professor, Department of Philosophy, Rice University, and Professor Emeritus, Department of Medicine and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine. His recent publications include The Foundations of Bioethics (1996) and The Foundations of Christian Bioethics (2000).

    K.W.M. (BILL) FULFORD, D. Phil., F.R.C.P., F.R.C. Psych, is Professor of Philosophy and Mental Health, University of Warwick, and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, University of Oxford. He is editor of the journal, Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology.

    MARGARET A. HAGEN, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Boston University. She is the author of Whores of the Court: The Fraud of Psychiatric Testimony and the Rape of American Justice (1997) and Varieties of Realism: Geometries of Representational Art (1986).

    ROBERT EVAN KENDELL, C.B.E., M.D., F.R.S.E., was appointed Professor of Psychiatry at Edinburgh Medical School in 1974, and became Chief Medical Officer at the Scottish Office in 1991. He was President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 1996 to 1999. Dr. Kendell died after writing his contribution to this volume.

    E. JAMES LIEBERMAN, M.D., M.P.H., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, George Washington University School of Medicine. He is author of Acts of Will: The Life and Work of Otto Rank (1998), and host of the website, www.ottorank.com.

    STANTON PEELE, Ph.D., J.D., has published nine books, including Diseasing of America (1995) and The Truth about Addiction and Recovery (1992).

    RAY SCOTT PERCIVAL, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, United Arab Emirates University. He is President and Founder of Karl Popper Forums. He was named by Baron's magazine as one of the Leaders of the Century.

    RONALD W. PIES, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and Lecturer in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. He is author or editor of several psychiatric textbooks, including The Difficult-to-Treat Psychiatric Patient (with M. Dewan, 2001), and author of The Ethics of the Sages (1999).

    JEFFREY A. SCHALER, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Justice, Law, and Society at American University's School of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. He is editor of Drugs: Should We Legalize, Decriminalize, or Deregulate? (1998) and author of Addiction Is a Choice (2000).

    RITA J. SIMON, Ph.D., is University Professor, School of Public Affairs and the Washington College of Law, at American University, Washington, D.C. Her more than fifty books include Abortion: Statutes, Policies, and Public Attitudes the World Over (1998) and The Insanity Defense (with David E. Aaronson, 1988).

    RALPH J. SLOVENKO, Ph.D., J.D., is Professor of Law and Psychiatry at Wayne State University Law School. He is author or editor of forty books, including Psychiatry in Law-Law in Psychiatry (2002) and Psychotherapy and Confidentiality (1998).

    RYAN SPELLECY, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor at the Center for the Study of Bioethics in the Medical College of Wisconsin. He has published several scholarly articles on bioethics.

    THOMAS S. SZASZ, M.D., is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Health Center in Syracuse. His recent books include Pharmacracy (2001) and Faith in Freedom (2004).

    Click here to order Szasz Under Fire from Open Court Publishing Company, Chicago.

    The Under Fire Series (TM)

    General Editor: Jeffrey A. Schaler

    VOLUME 1

    Szasz Under Fire: The Psychiatric Abolitionist Faces His Critics

    Reviewed in the Journal of the American Medical Association, January 12, 2005, Vol. 293, No. 2, pp. 240-241.

    IN PREPARATION:

    Howard Gardner Under Fire
    Peter Singer Under Fire

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