Sadism and Masochism As Medical Terms - Krafft-Ebing and The Psychopathia Sexualis

Krafft-Ebing and The Psychopathia Sexualis

In 1886, Richard von Krafft-Ebing published the first edition of Psychopathia Sexualis (Sexual Psychopathy), a collection of sexual case histories and sex-crimes; later editions introduced the terms sadism and masochism. He derived “sadism” from his knowledge of the life and literature of the Marquis de Sade; before the posthumous publication of important portions of de Sade’s literature, such as The 120 Days of Sodom (1785). “Masochism” derives from the sexual practices described in the contemporary (19th century) works, such as Venus in Furs (1870), of the Austrian writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836–1895). Furthermore, as so defined, “sadism” and “masochism” stem from different sexual and erotic logics, as do the denotations in the literatures of de Sade and Sacher-Masoch; Gilles Deleuze presented this distinction in his work about Sacher-Masoch.

Krafft-Ebing’s basic presumption was that recreational sexual intercourse was a perversion. The French physician Bénédict Morel described sadistic and masochistic behaviors in a theory of degeneration, wherein preference for such sexual behaviors (e.g. masturbation) was presented as an inheritable character trait, that would lead to the deterioration of the human gene pool. Thereby, Krafft-Ebing perceived basic, natural tendencies to sadism in men, and to masochism in women, a perspective later expanded by psychoanalysis. Nonetheless, Krafft-Ebing’s contemporaries were skeptical of his findings, and suggested modifications. The British physician Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) noted that the enjoyment of pain was restricted to the erotic context In 1892, Albert von Schrenck-Notzing introduced the Greek term algolagnia (algos + lagnia, “pain” + “lust”) as an alternative to “masochism” in describing a person’s enjoyment of the pleasure of pain. In the event, Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) adopted Krafft-Ebing’s theories to psychoanalysis, thereby ensuring their integral predominance in classifying and defining human sexual personalities.

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