ABSTRACT
Paul Flechsig was a prominent neuroscientist who did pioneering work in the neuroanatomy of the central nervous system. Like D. P. Schreber, Flechsig came from an upper-middle-class family, although one less illustrious than the Schrebers. Certain similarities can be seen in the educational strivings of the fathers of Flechsig and Schreber. Flechsig’s voyages took him through institutions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and France, especially Paris, where he met the great Charcot. His hospital was from the beginning set up as a showcase institution for the purpose of treatment, teaching, and research. As far as a philosophy of psychiatry is concerned, Flechsig adhered to a strict organic, conception of mental disorders. The public outcry against abuses of psychiatry, or the first antipsychiatry, climaxed in the 1890’s and the first decade of the 20th century. A number of psychiatrists, physicians, and lawyers came out defending patients’ rights against the arbitrariness of psychiatrists.
