Lucka said that "it was no
coincidence
that he rented a room
in that house.
in that house.
Weininger - 1946 - Mind and Death of a Genius
"
Yes, I was at the point of doing the same thing in 1880! I should
have, but for my discovery. It was not a concept, but a discovery,
and Weininger was a discoverer.
The new generation seems to find new truths; the zoological
Weltanschauung ended up as veterinary psychology. We searchers
seek for immortal souls and are therefore called religious. I am, but
I have no use for a creed.
Call me a "Christian freethinker" until I can think of something
better.
Your unknown friend at a distance,
Stockholm August Strindberg
Karlavagen 40
October 22,1903
Dear Doctor:
That strange, that mysterious man, Weininger! He was born
with a sense of guilt like mine! I came into the world with a guilty
conscience, with fright at everything, with anxiety for people and
for life. I believe now that I did something wrong before I was born.
What does that mean? Only the theosophists have the courage to
answer. Like Weininger, I became religious out of fear, the fear of
becoming inhuman. I adored Beethoven as he did, even established
a Beethoven club where we played only Beethoven, but I noticed
that so-called good people did not like Beethoven. The man who is
unhappy, restless, cannot be called heavenly; he is certainly tran-
scendental.
Weininger's fate? Did he indeed betray the secret of the gods?
Did he steal the fire? The air was too heavy for him here, therefore
he was suffocated. This cynical life became too cynical for him!
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? Crossing the Border 151
That he is gone means to me that he had the Supreme permission
to go. Otherwise, such things do not happen.
So it was written.
Yours,
Stockholm August Strindberg
December 8,1903
P. S. Please don't publish my letters until after my death.
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? Senilis and
Insanity
V%/here is the borderline between the normal and the
T abnormal mind? How often have we not seen an
apparently normal individual suddenly indulge in aberrant or
quite abnormal actions, and then just as suddenly resume his
conventional character? Imagine a man who is highly gifted,
intellectually endowed, a meteor in the realm of thought, who
has developed theories and concepts opposed to all the
thought of the past and clings to his own ideas even when his
constructive intelligence should tell him that they are mis-
taken. Is such a man normal or abnormal?
Look at Weininger. In spite of his violent mental conflicts
and the serious internal struggles which sometimes threatened
to split his personality, he was still able to control his trend to
insanity. After a short period of confusion, he still seemed
capable of organized, logical action. In spite of the bizarre and
fanciful ideas he presented to the bewildered reader of his
book, he often displayed profound insight into the unexplored
realms of psychology--an insight not infrequently brightened
with flashes of genius. In addition, after that eventful Novem-
ber night when his suicide was averted, Weininger presented
to the men about him, at least to those with no knowledge of
mental disease, an exterior in no way out of the ordinary.
Apparently he was in the borderland of normality. What
were the aspects of his somewhat equivocal mental condition?
A clue to understanding it and his general personal make-up
may be found in his basic shut-in (schizoid) attitude, which
explains why he showed no overt abnormal manifestations,
apart from the episode of the night of November 20, 1902.
His closest friends, Gerber and Lucka, knew that he had an
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? Genius and Insanity 153
1
odd nature, but it seemed to them no more than odd; they
certainly did not realize that his peculiarity might develop into
insanity. Even though a few of his friends had some knowl-
edge of psychology, they were still unable to judge his state of
mind.
It is not surprising that Swoboda says (p. 34): "I was never
able to discover any trace of abnormal feeling in Weininger,
and I would certainly have noticed anything of the sort in our
intimate relationship. On the contrary, I can definitely state
that Weininger was as sane as one can possibly expect a gen-
ius to be. " Yet it is surprising that after such remarks he con-
cluded with these words (p. 44), "The various disturbances
in his emotions and intellect were a result of disturbances in
his biological drives. "
Lucka knew of no insanity in the Weininger family, nor
did he consider Weininger's mind in any way diseased or
schizophrenic (Letter VIII). This opinion he had expressed
shortly after Weininger's death in Die Fackel, October 17,1903
(p. 16): "Not for one minute of his life was Weininger insane.
I talked with him myself the night before he killed himself. He
talked with his publisher the same evening, and with his own
family even later. Neither I nor anyone else noticed any de-
rangement or any exceptional excitement in him. "
This view contrasted with the opinion expressed when in
his book (Ofro Weininger: Der Mensch und sein Werfe, pp.
4, 5) he maintained that during the first part of 1903 it be-
came more and more difficult to get along with Weininger,
who was completely absorbed in his own thoughts. This
change continued in Weininger after Sex and Character had
been published, and he usually appeared gloomy and uncom-
fortable.
It is interesting in his connection to consider Rappaport's
observation (U. L. D. , p. xv): "Weininger could easily place
himself in the position of a criminal. Because of his universal
disposition, it is probable that he had all the instincts of the
criminal. But were they the original motive power? It is com-
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? 154 Genius and Insanity
mon knowledge that the phenomena of crime and insanity are
sometimes parallel. The continual desire to lie, to tyrannize,
to murder--perhaps they were all merely obsessional ideas.
His fear of becoming a murderer, which led him to his suicide,
was probably a phobia. In that case he was a victim of in-
sanity. " I have been told that Rappaport believed that Weinin-
ger committed suicide only because he wished to ward off his
strong inclinations to commit actual murder.
Weininger's sister maintained that no one of her family
was ever insane and that Otto was always well except during
the last months of his life, when his health was poor. "His
body was weakened by the many nights when he worked by
candlelight. His nervous system suffered, as you can see in his
writings" (Letter IX).
An expert has directed my attention to some curious parallels
in the conduct of Jonathan Swift, Heinrich von Kleist, and
Weininger. It is generally agreed that both Swift and Kleist
had small, inadequately developed genital organs. It is possible
that a similar deficiency lay behind the tragedy of Weininger,
affecting his mental development.
The picture his friends drew of his mental condition is quite
perplexing. Yet his mental make-up may explain the conflict-
ing statements. His mental state was neither normal nor, as
his friends may have thought, one of simple and usual depres-
sion. There was much more to it. Only Swoboda was on the
right track when he felt that Weininger's derangement was
due to disturbances in his biological drives. He, however,
halted his examination just where he should have started.
Therefore, let us look more closely at one aspect of his state
of mind--the phenomehon of hysteria. Clearly his hysterical
symptoms do not necessarily change our general view of his
mental disorder. Manifestations of hysteria are not uncom-
mon phenomena in schizophrenic diseases. When the sup-
posedly hysterical patient gradually turns to permanent de-
mentia, then the case is probably not hysteria but schizo-
phrenia.
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? Genius and Insanity 155
In Weininger the hysterical traits are so obvious and so
pure that one might easily believe he suffered from hysteria.
Mobius was well aware of this fact when he wrote in his long
article that "the history of Otto Weininger gives a definite
impression of a hysterical mask. " 1 Probst thought that Wei-
ninger suffered from hysteria with symptoms of a manic-
depressive disease (Der Fall, pp. 35-39).
Wilhelm Stekel also found hysterical traits in Weininger.
"The way I see it--and my impression has been confirmed by
an intimate friend of his--Weininger always felt a deep fas-
cination for all that was feminine and for everything con-
cerned with sex, and this impression is borne out by his pecul-
iarly stereotyped choice of literature, reading which must have
required several years, probably going back to his schooldays.
With this heavy ballast of knowledge, with his neuropatholog-
ical and probably hysterical disposition, which caused him to
suffer from displaced and painful sexual thoughts, he finally
turned to women, and his physical nature failed. Reality could
never live up to his dreams and his indefatigable imagination"
(Die Wage, No. 45, November, 1904, p. 1032). Thus, Wei-
ninger's morbid development was due to a repression of his
sexual life.
These hysterical traits appeared so clearly in Weininger
after his eighteenth year that the question arises as to whether
they were not bound up with his personality make-up.
When his whole life is viewed, he seems a man in need of
showing off. This tendency developed gradually during his
childhood, at school, and at the university, becoming more or
less conscious. The desire to proclaim himself was deeply
rooted in his personality. His attitude toward his father when
he begged for permission to study at the University, his duel,
his demonstrative conversion to Christianity the day he re-
ceived his degree, his threats to kill himself in 1902--all these
show a strong tendency to exhibitionism. Bumke's words are
true of Weininger, "The natural attitude of a hysteric is
1 Ceschlecht und Unbescheidenheit (Halle an der Saale, 1907), pp. 28-29.
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? 156 Genius and Insanity
the pose. " Even if Weininger often wanted to get away, to
hide himself, nevertheless whatever he touched became part
of his dramatic attitude. He had a natural talent for the dra-
matic, as well as for the tragic. His whole life was, indeed, a
tragic drama, as is often the case with such a personality type.
Weininger himself discussed the human desire to make an
impression in "Ego Problems and Genius" (Sex and Charac-
ter, p. 226): "A great man--that is, a man to whom time has
no importance--seeks to increase his own value in the pres-
ence of his intelligible ego, his moral and intellectual con-
science. His vanity is always a vanity toward itself. A desire
originates in him to impress others by his thoughts, actions,
and productivity. This vanity is the original vanity of genius,
possessing its own worth, and it is not concerned with what
the opinion of others may be. It is, however, not a praise-
worthy quality, and ascetic natures (Pascal) would suffer
heavily from this vanity if they did not get rid of it. "
Thanks to his psychological insight, he discovered his own
wish to impress himself and others, the desire to appear
something more than he was, "to experience more than one is
capable of," in the words of Karl Jaspers. According to his own
theories, the phenomenon of hysteria is characterized by a
desire to display emotions or ideas--a conclusion at which
Klages also later arrived. 2
The urge to make an impression decisively influenced his
later development. He always had to push ahead, assume an
attitude, play a role. His craving to expose and display himself
was so dominating that it drove him on to new conquests, to
greater insight into human psychology, and especially into the
psychology of the talented. The greater part of the chapter
"Talent and Genius" in Sex and Character is nothing but auto-
biography. It was the urge to exhibit himself that led him to
understand talent and genius. He said (p. 141), "Genius is a
2 L. Klages, Die Grundlagen der Charakterkunde (Leipzig, 1928), pp. 103,
126,127. See also Friedrich Stumpfl, Studien uber Vererbungen und Entstehung
geistiger Stbrungen (Berlin, 1935), p. 139.
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? Genius and Insanity 157
higher type of virility. " And (pp. 134-35): "In order to de-
scribe a man one must be similar to him. But in order to cre-
ate similar activities, one must reproduce the psychological
conditions in oneself. By this reasoning, only a thief can un-
derstand another thief; an honest man can never understand
him. . . . To understand a man means being the man.
"The man of genius is he who has a greater comprehension
of his fellow men than does the average man. It is said that
Goethe said of himself that there was no vice or crime of
which he could not trace an inclination in himself. The genius
is, therefore, a more complicated, more richly endowed, more
varied man. If comprehension of a human being only flickered
in him like the light from a faulty candle, then he would be
unable to kindle the flame of life in his heroes, and his crea-
tions would be without glow and power. The ideal artistic
genius is the man who lives the part of his character, who loses
himself in his subject in order to reveal himself to the multi-
tude. And so the aim of the philosopher is to discover all per-
sonalities within himself, to fuse them into a unity which is
his own unity. "
The urge to expose himself, becoming a guiding principle
with Weininger, encouraged the tendency to exaggeration,
which was already present and now gradually took a violent
form in the craving to show off. His desire to be sensational
finally led to eccentricity. Hence his suicide in the death house
of Beethoven. His associates accepted his own implied expla-
nation of this act. His father put into the inscription on Wein-
inger's tomb the statement that to take his own life he had
gone to the place of death of one of the greatest of all men.
Lucka said that "it was no coincidence that he rented a room
in that house. " Both apparently felt that Weininger was a
genius and therefore should die in a house where another gen-
ius had died. They thus took over Weininger's own estimate
and approved an action that certainly showed a great deal of
eccentricity.
This impression of his urge toward self-display is confirmed
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? 158 Genius and Insanity
by the manner in which Sex and Character originated as a
theory on talent. At first glance, it does not seem peculiar that
a young man should want to write a theoretical essay on tal-
ent, and indeed it would not have been peculiar were it not
for the fact that the artistic and intellectual talents of Otto
Weininger and his own inner conflict served as the basis for
the whole investigation. Obviously he was writing about him-
self. One may guess that his theory was intriguing, nearly
harmless, although a little superficial. He attacked earlier
metaphysical thinking and believed, as Ewald says (p. 36),
that "great talent in a man was supposed to be the result of a
higher development of his sensuality. "
Given Weininger's nature, it is certainly not surprising that
he should write about talent on the theory that the man with
the greatest sensuality has the most talent. As the book de-
veloped from this early plan, one can follow the development
of the man who wrote it. "The book was originally meant as a
chapter on structural psychology; it grew into a universal study
of character and ethics and finally became a mystical philos-
ophy of release. This change of focus expressed the different
stages of the quick development through which Weininger
went. The psychologist became a philosopher, the philosopher
became a religious mystic. The stages are easily recognized as
the first, second, and third parts of Sex and Character"
(Ewald, pp. 65-66).
As he changed, the book, too, changed radically. The prob-
lem of sex was substituted for the problem of talent as the
central theme, and the sex question became, as Ewald says,
"more acute . . . more dualistic, and more tragic. " 3
The close relation between man and work appeared even
more distinctly after his experience on the November night of
1902. That experience colored his mind, and his feelings are
expressed strikingly in Sex and Character. Many pages reflect
his suicidal mood. While research work is, as a rule, done
3 Ewald's evidence is supported by other sources. Weininger originally planned
to call his book Eros and Psyche, so Ewald tells us, and in a letter to Professor
Jodl, Otto referred to it by the initials "E. und P. "
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? Genius and Insanity 159
coolly and without fear, Weininger wrote the main part of
Sex and Character with the thought of self-destruction always
present. Reading this part of the book, even without any
knowledge of the author, leaves an impression not only of the
author's great mind, but also of his mood while writing. The
book was written for another world, the world he voluntarily
entered a half year after the book's publication. The funereal
atmosphere of his words fully reflects his inward nature.
Usually the relationship between an author and his work is
more hidden than in Weininger's case. The author's own per-
sonality is one of the main characteristics of Sex and Charac-
ter. There he presented what was most significant in the very
depths of his soul. The material for his theory of talent he
found in his own thoughts and experiences at a time when his
mind did not seem troubled by any morbid process. The mere
fact that he took up the study of talent seems to show his own
desire for self-display. The root of this desire was the intrinsic
value he found in his egocentric world, a value stemming from
his own sexual drive. He always gave in to the urge to play a
role, even at the cost of his own life. The result was that his
personality and the genuine value of his work were dimin-
ished. His personal life indeed became merely the stage for his
theatrical experiences, and his hysterical struggle became a
fight against his inner conflicts.
The development of his mental condition was marked by
hysterical symptoms to such a degree that his real mental state
was concealed. We can reach the significant part of his per-
sonality only by peeling off the layers of hysterical traits which
cover it. Only then do we see his conflicts, his repressed sexual
drive, his narcissism, his isolation, and his periods of split per-
sonality. Then his emotional and intellectual struggles make his
hysterical traits appear practically as caricature. True, those
traits did color the development of his personality, but hysteria
was not the center of his mental state.
Hysteria and schizophrenia are similar because both orig-
inate in repressed sexual feelings. The two diseases express
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? 160 Genius and Insanity
themselves to a large extent by the same means, and in the
early stages it is possible for a schizophrenic patient to be mis-
taken for a hysteric. In spite of these manifestations in com-
mon, there is a profound difference. Yet since their traits in
common are psychosexual in nature, it is easy to see why
Weininger's mental condition might superficially appear as
hysteria although it was in reality schizophrenia.
It is interesting to note that several of Otto Weininger's
friends thought he suffered from epilepsy "because epilepsy
and genius are related" (Der Fall, p. 9). And there is some
indication that Weininger may have ascribed epilepsy to him-
self. He believed that there was a close relationship between
the mind of the epileptic and that of the criminal. A remark
in "Letzte Aphorismen," found only in the first edition of
Vber die letzten Dinge (p. 81), establishes a linkage: "Psy-
chologist--criminal; scientist--neurasthenic. " 4
We have previously seen that Weininger assigned criminal
traits to himself. When we remember that he also--at least
on occasion--believed himself a genius, we may see that he
must have connected epileptic symptoms with his supposedly
criminal traits. His imagination and intuition thus found in
himself a combination of genius, epilepsy, and crime. Yet de-
spite the belief that he and his friends may have held about his
symptoms of epilepsy, we must conclude that he did not ac-
tually suffer from epilepsy.
Weininger's almost explosive mental development, with its
incessant inner conflict and disharmony, displays several fea-
tures which might be called psychopathic, yet since the term
psychopath covers various types of personality, little or noth-
ing would be gained by trying to apply this concept to the
make-up of Weininger. 5
* In this connection it may be mentioned that a certain type of criminal, furi-
ously opposed to the social order, generally shows an epilcptoid temperament.
See Hermann Hoffmann, "Ober Temperamentvererbung," Grenzfragen des
Nerven- und Seelenlebens, 1923, p. 43; Stumpfl, Studien iiber Vererbungen und
Entstehung geistiger Storungen, p. 79.
s For a discussion of the term psychopath, see David Abrahamsen, Crime and
the Human Mind (New York, 1944), pp. 110-12.
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? Genius and Insanity
161
For the sake of completeness it may also be recorded that
we have no basis for thinking that he suffered from a brain
disease of syphilitic nature.
The only psychiatric investigation as to Weininger's state
of mind was made by Ferdinand Probst, M. D. , of Munich. In
his work Der Fall Otto Weininger (The Case of Otto Wein-
inger),6 Probst came to the conclusion that "Weininger was
mentally ill, probably suffering from a mental disease of
manic-depressive character. " This psychiatric investigation
made a sensation and provoked criticism from Weininger's
friends and acquaintances. Thus, Wilhelm Stekel in his ar-
ticle "Der Fall Otto Weininger" (The Case of Otto Wei-
ninger) in Die Wage (No. 45, November, 1904) reviewed
Probst's conclusions, using these words: "With such little
competence, and even less psychology, one should not pass
judgment on a genius, even if he does show pathological fea-
tures. We are far fonder of a morbid genius than of a sound
but talentless human being. " Probst's judgment of Wei-
ninger's state of mind, his disease, and his work was deficient,
unreasonable, and disrespectful. 7
As to the diagnosis made by Probst, it must be emphasized
that a symptomatological distinction between schizophrenia
and a manic-depressive malady can be reached only through
studying specific schizophrenic symptoms. Only after a pre-
cise scrutiny of Weininger's mental state has shown no symp-
? This dissertation, which appeared in Grenzfragen des Nerven- und Seelenlebens
in 1904, was originally planned by L. Loewenfcld of Munich. Having read
Sex and Character, he had no doubt that Weininger was deranged, but he
could not clarify the nature of the derangement. He wrote to Weininger's
father, who sent him the information asked. Since Probst at this time an-
nounced a lecture on Weininger for psychiatrists, Loewenfeld wrote to him,
offering what material he had. Probst then wrote "Der Fall Otto Weininger. "
The article was later expanded into the psychiatric dissertation.
7 Probst tries to prove four stages in Weininger's manic-depressive disease: a
phase of initiation of a hypomanic character with creation or the dualistic per-
to a nearly manic phase, the last and heaviest depression ending with the
catastrophe of October 4, 1903. Probst believed that Weininger's transition of
personality was a hysterical phenomenon.
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? Genius and Insanity
torn indicating schizophrenia should we start thinking of a
manic-depressive condition. At the same time it must be
stressed that the latter, at its fullest development, from time
to time manifests itself as schizophrenia, and that, vice versa,
acute forms of schizophrenia are often marked by a manic-
depressive color. As to Weininger's case, if it was one of
manic-depressive disease, it must have followed a nontypical
course. We may, however, note that there is a close relation-
ship between a manic-depressive disorder and schizophrenia
because they have in common a narcissistic regression. Both
are marked by a damaged ego structure and by the loss--to a
greater or less degree--of the power to test reality. 8
It is postulated that disease of the manic-depressive type is
seen mainly in those of mixed bodily constitution. It has been
asserted, indeed, that the psychological features of the human
attitude are closely connected with the morphology and physi-
ology of the body. 8 As to Weininger, we earlier stated that his
mental constitution was schizoid. What was his bodily struc-
ture and how was it related to his mental make-up? 10
We have three photographs of Weininger. The first is a
snapshot taken in his college days and later reproduced on the
cover of the later editions of Sex and Character and Vber die
letzten Dinge. This shows Weininger as long, thin, and
meager, with slender arms and legs. The face is oblong, the
8 See the illuminating article by Dr. Paul Federn, "Psychoanalysis of Psy-
chosis," Psychiatric Quarterly, XVII (July, 1943), 485.
9Ernst Kretschmer, Medizinische Psychologie (Leipzig, 1926, 1939), p. 147;
W. H. Sheldon, in collaboration with S. S. Stevens and W. B. Tucker, The
Varieties of Human Physique: An Introduction to Constitutional Psychology
(New York and London, 1940). Sheldon and his co-authors construct a new
description of individual differences in morphology, consisting of three primary
components of the bodily constitution.
10 It may be stated as accepted theory that the thin individual with sharp face,
long nose, narrow shoulders, flat chest, long limbs, and pale fatless skin
(leptosome) is supposed to be the type of the overwhelming majority of the
schizophrenic group, while the rather short, stout individual (pyknic) is thought
to be the usual type of those who suffer from manic-depressive disease. It must
be stressed, however, that this classification of morphological and physiological
features into different groups with their corresponding mental types disregards
the influence of environmental factors on the body structure.
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? OTTO WEININGER IN THE SPRING OF 1903
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? Genius and Insanity 163
nose straight and long, the Hps thick, the forehead high, the
chin projecting. The second picture, taken in the spring of
1903, was reproduced in the first edition of Sex and Character.
It shows him with glasses and a small mustache, and his face
has a certain tortured expression. The third picture is a bust
taken after his death. The two later pictures show the same
traits as the first
The impression which these photographs give us accords
well with the descriptions given by his contemporaries. He was
of slim stature, five feet eight inches in height, and he had no
special muscular strength. His face was originally rather pretty
and revealed a gleam of genius. All the pictures show him as
the intelligent young investigator with a searching glance, the
inflexible ascetic with a clenched fist. Weininger thus may be
classified in bodily as well as mental aspects as of the schizoid
type. The oddity of his mind was so marked that even an
admirer, Freiherr Wilhelm von Appel, noted Weininger's un-
realistic attitude and wrote in his review of Sex and Character:
"I hope many will read this book, but beware! Weininger's
realm is not of this world. " 11 The same general thought ap-
peared in Professor Jodl's recommendation to the publisher.
"Along with much that is really striking," he said, "there is
much that I think very fantastic--the theory of the henid, the
denial of soul in woman, the extension of the concept of the
nature of genius, the explanation of the ego and ego experi-
ences. Many of these subjects look strange in the author's
circle of thoughts, otherwise extremely realistic; there is a mys-
tical aspect to some ideas, though in general his views are
natural-scientific" (From stenographic notes of Margaret Jodl).
Weininger's schizoid make-up was that of a man whose in-
tellectual and emotional life was directed partially to the sur-
rounding world, but mostly toward his inner self. This sort of
dualism enables the schizoid to appear normal until his whole
character may seem suddenly reversed. We are back at the
11 "Ein grosses Buch von einem grossen Menschcn," Neue Bahnen /tir Kunst
und offentliches Leben, December, 1903, p. 613.
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Yes, I was at the point of doing the same thing in 1880! I should
have, but for my discovery. It was not a concept, but a discovery,
and Weininger was a discoverer.
The new generation seems to find new truths; the zoological
Weltanschauung ended up as veterinary psychology. We searchers
seek for immortal souls and are therefore called religious. I am, but
I have no use for a creed.
Call me a "Christian freethinker" until I can think of something
better.
Your unknown friend at a distance,
Stockholm August Strindberg
Karlavagen 40
October 22,1903
Dear Doctor:
That strange, that mysterious man, Weininger! He was born
with a sense of guilt like mine! I came into the world with a guilty
conscience, with fright at everything, with anxiety for people and
for life. I believe now that I did something wrong before I was born.
What does that mean? Only the theosophists have the courage to
answer. Like Weininger, I became religious out of fear, the fear of
becoming inhuman. I adored Beethoven as he did, even established
a Beethoven club where we played only Beethoven, but I noticed
that so-called good people did not like Beethoven. The man who is
unhappy, restless, cannot be called heavenly; he is certainly tran-
scendental.
Weininger's fate? Did he indeed betray the secret of the gods?
Did he steal the fire? The air was too heavy for him here, therefore
he was suffocated. This cynical life became too cynical for him!
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? Crossing the Border 151
That he is gone means to me that he had the Supreme permission
to go. Otherwise, such things do not happen.
So it was written.
Yours,
Stockholm August Strindberg
December 8,1903
P. S. Please don't publish my letters until after my death.
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? Senilis and
Insanity
V%/here is the borderline between the normal and the
T abnormal mind? How often have we not seen an
apparently normal individual suddenly indulge in aberrant or
quite abnormal actions, and then just as suddenly resume his
conventional character? Imagine a man who is highly gifted,
intellectually endowed, a meteor in the realm of thought, who
has developed theories and concepts opposed to all the
thought of the past and clings to his own ideas even when his
constructive intelligence should tell him that they are mis-
taken. Is such a man normal or abnormal?
Look at Weininger. In spite of his violent mental conflicts
and the serious internal struggles which sometimes threatened
to split his personality, he was still able to control his trend to
insanity. After a short period of confusion, he still seemed
capable of organized, logical action. In spite of the bizarre and
fanciful ideas he presented to the bewildered reader of his
book, he often displayed profound insight into the unexplored
realms of psychology--an insight not infrequently brightened
with flashes of genius. In addition, after that eventful Novem-
ber night when his suicide was averted, Weininger presented
to the men about him, at least to those with no knowledge of
mental disease, an exterior in no way out of the ordinary.
Apparently he was in the borderland of normality. What
were the aspects of his somewhat equivocal mental condition?
A clue to understanding it and his general personal make-up
may be found in his basic shut-in (schizoid) attitude, which
explains why he showed no overt abnormal manifestations,
apart from the episode of the night of November 20, 1902.
His closest friends, Gerber and Lucka, knew that he had an
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? Genius and Insanity 153
1
odd nature, but it seemed to them no more than odd; they
certainly did not realize that his peculiarity might develop into
insanity. Even though a few of his friends had some knowl-
edge of psychology, they were still unable to judge his state of
mind.
It is not surprising that Swoboda says (p. 34): "I was never
able to discover any trace of abnormal feeling in Weininger,
and I would certainly have noticed anything of the sort in our
intimate relationship. On the contrary, I can definitely state
that Weininger was as sane as one can possibly expect a gen-
ius to be. " Yet it is surprising that after such remarks he con-
cluded with these words (p. 44), "The various disturbances
in his emotions and intellect were a result of disturbances in
his biological drives. "
Lucka knew of no insanity in the Weininger family, nor
did he consider Weininger's mind in any way diseased or
schizophrenic (Letter VIII). This opinion he had expressed
shortly after Weininger's death in Die Fackel, October 17,1903
(p. 16): "Not for one minute of his life was Weininger insane.
I talked with him myself the night before he killed himself. He
talked with his publisher the same evening, and with his own
family even later. Neither I nor anyone else noticed any de-
rangement or any exceptional excitement in him. "
This view contrasted with the opinion expressed when in
his book (Ofro Weininger: Der Mensch und sein Werfe, pp.
4, 5) he maintained that during the first part of 1903 it be-
came more and more difficult to get along with Weininger,
who was completely absorbed in his own thoughts. This
change continued in Weininger after Sex and Character had
been published, and he usually appeared gloomy and uncom-
fortable.
It is interesting in his connection to consider Rappaport's
observation (U. L. D. , p. xv): "Weininger could easily place
himself in the position of a criminal. Because of his universal
disposition, it is probable that he had all the instincts of the
criminal. But were they the original motive power? It is com-
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? 154 Genius and Insanity
mon knowledge that the phenomena of crime and insanity are
sometimes parallel. The continual desire to lie, to tyrannize,
to murder--perhaps they were all merely obsessional ideas.
His fear of becoming a murderer, which led him to his suicide,
was probably a phobia. In that case he was a victim of in-
sanity. " I have been told that Rappaport believed that Weinin-
ger committed suicide only because he wished to ward off his
strong inclinations to commit actual murder.
Weininger's sister maintained that no one of her family
was ever insane and that Otto was always well except during
the last months of his life, when his health was poor. "His
body was weakened by the many nights when he worked by
candlelight. His nervous system suffered, as you can see in his
writings" (Letter IX).
An expert has directed my attention to some curious parallels
in the conduct of Jonathan Swift, Heinrich von Kleist, and
Weininger. It is generally agreed that both Swift and Kleist
had small, inadequately developed genital organs. It is possible
that a similar deficiency lay behind the tragedy of Weininger,
affecting his mental development.
The picture his friends drew of his mental condition is quite
perplexing. Yet his mental make-up may explain the conflict-
ing statements. His mental state was neither normal nor, as
his friends may have thought, one of simple and usual depres-
sion. There was much more to it. Only Swoboda was on the
right track when he felt that Weininger's derangement was
due to disturbances in his biological drives. He, however,
halted his examination just where he should have started.
Therefore, let us look more closely at one aspect of his state
of mind--the phenomehon of hysteria. Clearly his hysterical
symptoms do not necessarily change our general view of his
mental disorder. Manifestations of hysteria are not uncom-
mon phenomena in schizophrenic diseases. When the sup-
posedly hysterical patient gradually turns to permanent de-
mentia, then the case is probably not hysteria but schizo-
phrenia.
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? Genius and Insanity 155
In Weininger the hysterical traits are so obvious and so
pure that one might easily believe he suffered from hysteria.
Mobius was well aware of this fact when he wrote in his long
article that "the history of Otto Weininger gives a definite
impression of a hysterical mask. " 1 Probst thought that Wei-
ninger suffered from hysteria with symptoms of a manic-
depressive disease (Der Fall, pp. 35-39).
Wilhelm Stekel also found hysterical traits in Weininger.
"The way I see it--and my impression has been confirmed by
an intimate friend of his--Weininger always felt a deep fas-
cination for all that was feminine and for everything con-
cerned with sex, and this impression is borne out by his pecul-
iarly stereotyped choice of literature, reading which must have
required several years, probably going back to his schooldays.
With this heavy ballast of knowledge, with his neuropatholog-
ical and probably hysterical disposition, which caused him to
suffer from displaced and painful sexual thoughts, he finally
turned to women, and his physical nature failed. Reality could
never live up to his dreams and his indefatigable imagination"
(Die Wage, No. 45, November, 1904, p. 1032). Thus, Wei-
ninger's morbid development was due to a repression of his
sexual life.
These hysterical traits appeared so clearly in Weininger
after his eighteenth year that the question arises as to whether
they were not bound up with his personality make-up.
When his whole life is viewed, he seems a man in need of
showing off. This tendency developed gradually during his
childhood, at school, and at the university, becoming more or
less conscious. The desire to proclaim himself was deeply
rooted in his personality. His attitude toward his father when
he begged for permission to study at the University, his duel,
his demonstrative conversion to Christianity the day he re-
ceived his degree, his threats to kill himself in 1902--all these
show a strong tendency to exhibitionism. Bumke's words are
true of Weininger, "The natural attitude of a hysteric is
1 Ceschlecht und Unbescheidenheit (Halle an der Saale, 1907), pp. 28-29.
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? 156 Genius and Insanity
the pose. " Even if Weininger often wanted to get away, to
hide himself, nevertheless whatever he touched became part
of his dramatic attitude. He had a natural talent for the dra-
matic, as well as for the tragic. His whole life was, indeed, a
tragic drama, as is often the case with such a personality type.
Weininger himself discussed the human desire to make an
impression in "Ego Problems and Genius" (Sex and Charac-
ter, p. 226): "A great man--that is, a man to whom time has
no importance--seeks to increase his own value in the pres-
ence of his intelligible ego, his moral and intellectual con-
science. His vanity is always a vanity toward itself. A desire
originates in him to impress others by his thoughts, actions,
and productivity. This vanity is the original vanity of genius,
possessing its own worth, and it is not concerned with what
the opinion of others may be. It is, however, not a praise-
worthy quality, and ascetic natures (Pascal) would suffer
heavily from this vanity if they did not get rid of it. "
Thanks to his psychological insight, he discovered his own
wish to impress himself and others, the desire to appear
something more than he was, "to experience more than one is
capable of," in the words of Karl Jaspers. According to his own
theories, the phenomenon of hysteria is characterized by a
desire to display emotions or ideas--a conclusion at which
Klages also later arrived. 2
The urge to make an impression decisively influenced his
later development. He always had to push ahead, assume an
attitude, play a role. His craving to expose and display himself
was so dominating that it drove him on to new conquests, to
greater insight into human psychology, and especially into the
psychology of the talented. The greater part of the chapter
"Talent and Genius" in Sex and Character is nothing but auto-
biography. It was the urge to exhibit himself that led him to
understand talent and genius. He said (p. 141), "Genius is a
2 L. Klages, Die Grundlagen der Charakterkunde (Leipzig, 1928), pp. 103,
126,127. See also Friedrich Stumpfl, Studien uber Vererbungen und Entstehung
geistiger Stbrungen (Berlin, 1935), p. 139.
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? Genius and Insanity 157
higher type of virility. " And (pp. 134-35): "In order to de-
scribe a man one must be similar to him. But in order to cre-
ate similar activities, one must reproduce the psychological
conditions in oneself. By this reasoning, only a thief can un-
derstand another thief; an honest man can never understand
him. . . . To understand a man means being the man.
"The man of genius is he who has a greater comprehension
of his fellow men than does the average man. It is said that
Goethe said of himself that there was no vice or crime of
which he could not trace an inclination in himself. The genius
is, therefore, a more complicated, more richly endowed, more
varied man. If comprehension of a human being only flickered
in him like the light from a faulty candle, then he would be
unable to kindle the flame of life in his heroes, and his crea-
tions would be without glow and power. The ideal artistic
genius is the man who lives the part of his character, who loses
himself in his subject in order to reveal himself to the multi-
tude. And so the aim of the philosopher is to discover all per-
sonalities within himself, to fuse them into a unity which is
his own unity. "
The urge to expose himself, becoming a guiding principle
with Weininger, encouraged the tendency to exaggeration,
which was already present and now gradually took a violent
form in the craving to show off. His desire to be sensational
finally led to eccentricity. Hence his suicide in the death house
of Beethoven. His associates accepted his own implied expla-
nation of this act. His father put into the inscription on Wein-
inger's tomb the statement that to take his own life he had
gone to the place of death of one of the greatest of all men.
Lucka said that "it was no coincidence that he rented a room
in that house. " Both apparently felt that Weininger was a
genius and therefore should die in a house where another gen-
ius had died. They thus took over Weininger's own estimate
and approved an action that certainly showed a great deal of
eccentricity.
This impression of his urge toward self-display is confirmed
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? 158 Genius and Insanity
by the manner in which Sex and Character originated as a
theory on talent. At first glance, it does not seem peculiar that
a young man should want to write a theoretical essay on tal-
ent, and indeed it would not have been peculiar were it not
for the fact that the artistic and intellectual talents of Otto
Weininger and his own inner conflict served as the basis for
the whole investigation. Obviously he was writing about him-
self. One may guess that his theory was intriguing, nearly
harmless, although a little superficial. He attacked earlier
metaphysical thinking and believed, as Ewald says (p. 36),
that "great talent in a man was supposed to be the result of a
higher development of his sensuality. "
Given Weininger's nature, it is certainly not surprising that
he should write about talent on the theory that the man with
the greatest sensuality has the most talent. As the book de-
veloped from this early plan, one can follow the development
of the man who wrote it. "The book was originally meant as a
chapter on structural psychology; it grew into a universal study
of character and ethics and finally became a mystical philos-
ophy of release. This change of focus expressed the different
stages of the quick development through which Weininger
went. The psychologist became a philosopher, the philosopher
became a religious mystic. The stages are easily recognized as
the first, second, and third parts of Sex and Character"
(Ewald, pp. 65-66).
As he changed, the book, too, changed radically. The prob-
lem of sex was substituted for the problem of talent as the
central theme, and the sex question became, as Ewald says,
"more acute . . . more dualistic, and more tragic. " 3
The close relation between man and work appeared even
more distinctly after his experience on the November night of
1902. That experience colored his mind, and his feelings are
expressed strikingly in Sex and Character. Many pages reflect
his suicidal mood. While research work is, as a rule, done
3 Ewald's evidence is supported by other sources. Weininger originally planned
to call his book Eros and Psyche, so Ewald tells us, and in a letter to Professor
Jodl, Otto referred to it by the initials "E. und P. "
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? Genius and Insanity 159
coolly and without fear, Weininger wrote the main part of
Sex and Character with the thought of self-destruction always
present. Reading this part of the book, even without any
knowledge of the author, leaves an impression not only of the
author's great mind, but also of his mood while writing. The
book was written for another world, the world he voluntarily
entered a half year after the book's publication. The funereal
atmosphere of his words fully reflects his inward nature.
Usually the relationship between an author and his work is
more hidden than in Weininger's case. The author's own per-
sonality is one of the main characteristics of Sex and Charac-
ter. There he presented what was most significant in the very
depths of his soul. The material for his theory of talent he
found in his own thoughts and experiences at a time when his
mind did not seem troubled by any morbid process. The mere
fact that he took up the study of talent seems to show his own
desire for self-display. The root of this desire was the intrinsic
value he found in his egocentric world, a value stemming from
his own sexual drive. He always gave in to the urge to play a
role, even at the cost of his own life. The result was that his
personality and the genuine value of his work were dimin-
ished. His personal life indeed became merely the stage for his
theatrical experiences, and his hysterical struggle became a
fight against his inner conflicts.
The development of his mental condition was marked by
hysterical symptoms to such a degree that his real mental state
was concealed. We can reach the significant part of his per-
sonality only by peeling off the layers of hysterical traits which
cover it. Only then do we see his conflicts, his repressed sexual
drive, his narcissism, his isolation, and his periods of split per-
sonality. Then his emotional and intellectual struggles make his
hysterical traits appear practically as caricature. True, those
traits did color the development of his personality, but hysteria
was not the center of his mental state.
Hysteria and schizophrenia are similar because both orig-
inate in repressed sexual feelings. The two diseases express
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? 160 Genius and Insanity
themselves to a large extent by the same means, and in the
early stages it is possible for a schizophrenic patient to be mis-
taken for a hysteric. In spite of these manifestations in com-
mon, there is a profound difference. Yet since their traits in
common are psychosexual in nature, it is easy to see why
Weininger's mental condition might superficially appear as
hysteria although it was in reality schizophrenia.
It is interesting to note that several of Otto Weininger's
friends thought he suffered from epilepsy "because epilepsy
and genius are related" (Der Fall, p. 9). And there is some
indication that Weininger may have ascribed epilepsy to him-
self. He believed that there was a close relationship between
the mind of the epileptic and that of the criminal. A remark
in "Letzte Aphorismen," found only in the first edition of
Vber die letzten Dinge (p. 81), establishes a linkage: "Psy-
chologist--criminal; scientist--neurasthenic. " 4
We have previously seen that Weininger assigned criminal
traits to himself. When we remember that he also--at least
on occasion--believed himself a genius, we may see that he
must have connected epileptic symptoms with his supposedly
criminal traits. His imagination and intuition thus found in
himself a combination of genius, epilepsy, and crime. Yet de-
spite the belief that he and his friends may have held about his
symptoms of epilepsy, we must conclude that he did not ac-
tually suffer from epilepsy.
Weininger's almost explosive mental development, with its
incessant inner conflict and disharmony, displays several fea-
tures which might be called psychopathic, yet since the term
psychopath covers various types of personality, little or noth-
ing would be gained by trying to apply this concept to the
make-up of Weininger. 5
* In this connection it may be mentioned that a certain type of criminal, furi-
ously opposed to the social order, generally shows an epilcptoid temperament.
See Hermann Hoffmann, "Ober Temperamentvererbung," Grenzfragen des
Nerven- und Seelenlebens, 1923, p. 43; Stumpfl, Studien iiber Vererbungen und
Entstehung geistiger Storungen, p. 79.
s For a discussion of the term psychopath, see David Abrahamsen, Crime and
the Human Mind (New York, 1944), pp. 110-12.
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? Genius and Insanity
161
For the sake of completeness it may also be recorded that
we have no basis for thinking that he suffered from a brain
disease of syphilitic nature.
The only psychiatric investigation as to Weininger's state
of mind was made by Ferdinand Probst, M. D. , of Munich. In
his work Der Fall Otto Weininger (The Case of Otto Wein-
inger),6 Probst came to the conclusion that "Weininger was
mentally ill, probably suffering from a mental disease of
manic-depressive character. " This psychiatric investigation
made a sensation and provoked criticism from Weininger's
friends and acquaintances. Thus, Wilhelm Stekel in his ar-
ticle "Der Fall Otto Weininger" (The Case of Otto Wei-
ninger) in Die Wage (No. 45, November, 1904) reviewed
Probst's conclusions, using these words: "With such little
competence, and even less psychology, one should not pass
judgment on a genius, even if he does show pathological fea-
tures. We are far fonder of a morbid genius than of a sound
but talentless human being. " Probst's judgment of Wei-
ninger's state of mind, his disease, and his work was deficient,
unreasonable, and disrespectful. 7
As to the diagnosis made by Probst, it must be emphasized
that a symptomatological distinction between schizophrenia
and a manic-depressive malady can be reached only through
studying specific schizophrenic symptoms. Only after a pre-
cise scrutiny of Weininger's mental state has shown no symp-
? This dissertation, which appeared in Grenzfragen des Nerven- und Seelenlebens
in 1904, was originally planned by L. Loewenfcld of Munich. Having read
Sex and Character, he had no doubt that Weininger was deranged, but he
could not clarify the nature of the derangement. He wrote to Weininger's
father, who sent him the information asked. Since Probst at this time an-
nounced a lecture on Weininger for psychiatrists, Loewenfeld wrote to him,
offering what material he had. Probst then wrote "Der Fall Otto Weininger. "
The article was later expanded into the psychiatric dissertation.
7 Probst tries to prove four stages in Weininger's manic-depressive disease: a
phase of initiation of a hypomanic character with creation or the dualistic per-
to a nearly manic phase, the last and heaviest depression ending with the
catastrophe of October 4, 1903. Probst believed that Weininger's transition of
personality was a hysterical phenomenon.
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? Genius and Insanity
torn indicating schizophrenia should we start thinking of a
manic-depressive condition. At the same time it must be
stressed that the latter, at its fullest development, from time
to time manifests itself as schizophrenia, and that, vice versa,
acute forms of schizophrenia are often marked by a manic-
depressive color. As to Weininger's case, if it was one of
manic-depressive disease, it must have followed a nontypical
course. We may, however, note that there is a close relation-
ship between a manic-depressive disorder and schizophrenia
because they have in common a narcissistic regression. Both
are marked by a damaged ego structure and by the loss--to a
greater or less degree--of the power to test reality. 8
It is postulated that disease of the manic-depressive type is
seen mainly in those of mixed bodily constitution. It has been
asserted, indeed, that the psychological features of the human
attitude are closely connected with the morphology and physi-
ology of the body. 8 As to Weininger, we earlier stated that his
mental constitution was schizoid. What was his bodily struc-
ture and how was it related to his mental make-up? 10
We have three photographs of Weininger. The first is a
snapshot taken in his college days and later reproduced on the
cover of the later editions of Sex and Character and Vber die
letzten Dinge. This shows Weininger as long, thin, and
meager, with slender arms and legs. The face is oblong, the
8 See the illuminating article by Dr. Paul Federn, "Psychoanalysis of Psy-
chosis," Psychiatric Quarterly, XVII (July, 1943), 485.
9Ernst Kretschmer, Medizinische Psychologie (Leipzig, 1926, 1939), p. 147;
W. H. Sheldon, in collaboration with S. S. Stevens and W. B. Tucker, The
Varieties of Human Physique: An Introduction to Constitutional Psychology
(New York and London, 1940). Sheldon and his co-authors construct a new
description of individual differences in morphology, consisting of three primary
components of the bodily constitution.
10 It may be stated as accepted theory that the thin individual with sharp face,
long nose, narrow shoulders, flat chest, long limbs, and pale fatless skin
(leptosome) is supposed to be the type of the overwhelming majority of the
schizophrenic group, while the rather short, stout individual (pyknic) is thought
to be the usual type of those who suffer from manic-depressive disease. It must
be stressed, however, that this classification of morphological and physiological
features into different groups with their corresponding mental types disregards
the influence of environmental factors on the body structure.
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? OTTO WEININGER IN THE SPRING OF 1903
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? Genius and Insanity 163
nose straight and long, the Hps thick, the forehead high, the
chin projecting. The second picture, taken in the spring of
1903, was reproduced in the first edition of Sex and Character.
It shows him with glasses and a small mustache, and his face
has a certain tortured expression. The third picture is a bust
taken after his death. The two later pictures show the same
traits as the first
The impression which these photographs give us accords
well with the descriptions given by his contemporaries. He was
of slim stature, five feet eight inches in height, and he had no
special muscular strength. His face was originally rather pretty
and revealed a gleam of genius. All the pictures show him as
the intelligent young investigator with a searching glance, the
inflexible ascetic with a clenched fist. Weininger thus may be
classified in bodily as well as mental aspects as of the schizoid
type. The oddity of his mind was so marked that even an
admirer, Freiherr Wilhelm von Appel, noted Weininger's un-
realistic attitude and wrote in his review of Sex and Character:
"I hope many will read this book, but beware! Weininger's
realm is not of this world. " 11 The same general thought ap-
peared in Professor Jodl's recommendation to the publisher.
"Along with much that is really striking," he said, "there is
much that I think very fantastic--the theory of the henid, the
denial of soul in woman, the extension of the concept of the
nature of genius, the explanation of the ego and ego experi-
ences. Many of these subjects look strange in the author's
circle of thoughts, otherwise extremely realistic; there is a mys-
tical aspect to some ideas, though in general his views are
natural-scientific" (From stenographic notes of Margaret Jodl).
Weininger's schizoid make-up was that of a man whose in-
tellectual and emotional life was directed partially to the sur-
rounding world, but mostly toward his inner self. This sort of
dualism enables the schizoid to appear normal until his whole
character may seem suddenly reversed. We are back at the
11 "Ein grosses Buch von einem grossen Menschcn," Neue Bahnen /tir Kunst
und offentliches Leben, December, 1903, p. 613.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-08-19 08:38 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/wu. 89038364857 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust.
