Genius and degeneration : a psychological study / by William Hirsch ; Translated from the second edition of the German work.

Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Genius and degeneration : a psychological study / by William Hirsch ; Translated from the second edition of the German work. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    PREFACE. It is a special trait of recent times that science, particu- larly the natural sciences, have assumed an international character. All civilized nations are equally interested in the great problems of the day, and they all contribute in greater or less degree to the mighty structure of modern science. Nevertheless, the mutual exchange of ideas is sometimes impeded by differences of language, and this dif- ficulty is increased when not only the external form but also the presentation of the subject bears the stamp of a pecul- iarly national characteristic. I felt myself confronted by such a difficulty when I concluded to place the present work before an English-speaking public. The anthropo- logical questions treated here have made it necessary to undertake a psychological analysis of certain individuals, and to attempt to penetrate as far as possible to the depths of their mental processes. It was natural that in the origi- nal production of this work the intellectual heroes of the German people should have been selected, and it is evident that the appreciation of their traits and work is more per- fect among their own people than among foreign nations. Nevertheless, I am sure that the characters selected for analysis, from whose life and works I have attempted to arrive at a correct conception of both genius and degenera- tion, are sufficiently well known to the English reader.