Karl Kraus was an Austrian writer and satirist who wrote on the abuse of language by psychiatrists, psychoanalysts and journalists. This is an introduction to Kraus's life and work and his place in cultural history, followed by translations of his selected works on psychiatry.



Sigmund Freud once courted the favour of Austrian writer and satirist, Karl Kraus, and failed to obtain it. Kraus's favourite themes were the power of language, its abuse by psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, and journalists, and the catastrophic consequences of this abuse. According to Thomas Szasz, Kraus saw through the rhetoric of psychoanalysis and regarded its practitioners as enemies of human dignity. "Anti-Freud" provides readers with a general introduction to Kraus's life and work and his place in cultural history, followed by translations of his selected writings on psychiatry. Published originally in 1977 under the title "Karl Kraus and the Soul Doctors", this first paperback editions contains a new preface by Szasz.