Presented
here is a short gallery of some of the various figures
who either influenced Laing or were involved with him in
some way. The list is far from complete in that to
include every single influence on his thinking would be
to present a pantheon of European, Eastern and Classical
philosophers. So, this is only a small selection. Some of
the figures involved are extremely interesting in their
own right; links are included to places where you can
find out more about their approaches.
Mary Barnes
Resident of the Kingsley Hall community for the mentally
ill, which Laing helped to found. Barnes co-authored an
account of her experiences at Kingsley Hall, Mary Barnes:
Two Accounts of a Journey Through Madness, with Joseph
Berke. The book was adapted for the stage by David Edgar.
Gregory
Bateson
Pioneer in sytems theory. Author of Mind and Nature
and Steps to an Ecology of Mind, which brought
together disciplines as diverse as anthropology, psychiatry,
biology, ecology and cybernetics to present a worldview
based on the study of the relationships between objects
rather than the objects themselves. Co-creator of the
so-called 'Double
Bind' theory
of schizophrenia, which influenced Laing's theories on the
subject. Under the Double Bind theory, schizophrenia is
caused by being placed in an emotional catch-22 situation by
close friends and family.
The
Pattern Which Connects: About Gregory
Bateson
Bateson,
Gregory (1904-1980)
Joseph
Berke
Staff member at the Kingsley Hall community. Co-authored
Mary Barnes: Two Accounts of a Journey Through
Madness, with Mary Barnes.
Dr.
Joseph H. Berke Web-Site
Daniel Burston
Associate Professor of Psychology at Duquesne University,
Daniel Burston is also on the Advisory Board of the C. G.
Jung Analyst Training Program of Pittsburgh. In addition to
extensive publications in the history and philosophy of
psychology, and definitive studies on the work of Erich
Fromm, Burston is author of The Wing of Madness: The Life
and Work of R.D. Laing and The Crucible of
Experience: R.D.Laing & The Crisis of
Psychotherapy.
Daniel
Burston's Website
Fritjof
Capra
Physicist and philosopher. Best known for his controversial
book, The Tao of Physics, which explores the
parallels between quantum physics and Eastern mysticism. Had
a number of conversations with Laing, which he relates in
his book Uncommon Wisdom. Also wrote The Turning
Point and The Web of Life.
Fritjof
Capra's Homepage
David
Cooper
Colleague of Laing. Founder of Villa 21, a non-hierarchical
community for schizophrenics which provided a partial
blueprint for the Kingsley Hall Community. Coined the term
'antipsychiatry', a term Laing adamantly rejected but was
subsequently labelled with. Author of Psychiatry and
Antipsychiatry and The Death of the Family;
edited The Dialectics of Liberation.
Aaron
Esterson
Colleague of Laing, with whom he co-authored Sanity,
Madness and the Family. Helped Laing and Cooper to found
the Kingsley Hall community. Also wrote Leaves of
Spring, which expanded on the ideas in Sanity,
Madness and the Family.
Michel
Foucault
French philosopher and author of Madness and
Civilization. Argued that the concept of madness is
constructed through institutions such as asylums, so that
madness and non-madness define each other.
The
Foucault Pages at CSUN
Sigmund
Freud
Founder of psychoanalysis, and a heavy influence on Laing,
who referred to Freud as a 'hero.' Freud's work remains
controversial and frequently receives heavy criticism, for
example in Karl Popper's The Open Society and its
Enemies, and more recently in works such as Ernest
Gellner's The Psychoanalytic Movement and Richard
Webster's Why Freud Was Wrong.
FreudNet
Steven
Gans & Leon Redler
One a philosopher the other a physician and psychiatrist,
they have been provoked and inspired by eastern and western
ethical teachings and have developed their own ethical
approach to practice. Steven
Gans taught philosophy in the US and UK before training
in psychotherapy with the Philadelphia Association, he is a
member of the Philadelphia Association's faculty and
training committee. Leon Redler emigrated to London
in 1965 as a student/apprentice of R.D. Laing and the
Philadelphia Association; published work includes articles
on Laing, Levinas and Buddhist teachings and practice.
Visit the Just
Listening
website.
Erving
Goffman
Hugely influential Canadian-American sociologist, most
famous for his book Asylums, which demonstrated the
manner in which 'total institutions' such as asylums,
prisons and the armed forces degrade and dehumanise the
individuals within them. Also studied the manner in which
people present themselves in everyday life and the social
effects of stigma.
A
remembrance of Erving Goffman
Martin
Heidegger
German existentialist and author of Being and
Time.
Ereignis
Theodor Itten
Dr. Itten's psychiatric apprenticeship with R.D. Laing
formally spanned six years, 1976-1981, and included living
for nine months in the Archway Community of the PA (
Sept.1976-April 1977). Dr. Itten became an Associate Member
of the PA in April 1981, and from there on was friends and
collegue with Ronnie Laing, organising his only Swiss
Lecture tour in 1982 - 'Ways and means in Psychiatry', and
his visits to Manfred Bleuler and Medard Boss. In his
capacity as member of a communal practice, Dr. Itten's
approach is described as one 'informed by the healing art of
R.D. Laing'.
Theodor
Itten: Anteros Psychologische
Gemeinschaftspraxis
[in German].
Carl Jung
Founder of analytical psychology and one-time colleague of
Freud. Broke with Freud over personal and theoretical
differences. Shared with Laing an examination of the role of
mysticism in psychology and a view of mental illness as a
process of personal transformation.
C.G.
Jung, Analytical Psychology and Culture
Soren
Kierkegaard
Danish philosopher and forerunner of existentialism.
Kierkegaard
on the Internet
Karl Marx
German social philosopher and founder of Communism. Laing
has been generally associated with the political left,
although he had little involvement in party politics.
The
Marx/Engels Internet Archive
Maurice
Merleau-Ponty
French phenomenologist and author of The Phenomenology of
Perception.
Merleau-Ponty
links
Bob Mullan
The publication of an official biography of Laing was
pre-empted by the family's withdrawal of access to Laing's
personal papers after his death. Instead, Mullan produced
the critically-acclaimed Mad To Be Normal: Conversations
With R.D. Laing, published in the form of interview
transcripts from their conversations, and further published
R.D.Laing: Creative Destroyer, and R.D. Laing, A
Personal View. Bob is a freelance filmmaker as well as
author, and is currently working on a feature-length film on
location in Lithuania. Bob can be contacted by email at:
rgmullan@aol.com
Friedrich
Nietzsche
German existentialist. Author of Beyond Good and
Evil, Ecce Homo and Thus Spake
Zarathustra.
The
Perspectives of Nietzsche
Pirate
Nietzsche Page
Jean-Paul
Sartre
French existentialist. Author of the philosophical classic
Being and Nothingness, as well as the Critique of
Dialectical Reason.
Jean-Paul
Sartre, Philosophy and Existentialism
Thomas J.
Scheff
American sociologist and author of Being Mentally
Ill, which examined how social concepts of normality
define and reinforce concepts of mental illness.
Thomas
J. Scheff's Website
'Unpacking
the Civilizing Process' by Thomas J. Scheff
Thomas
Szasz
American psychiatrist. Like Laing, Cooper and Foucault,
became identified as part of the so-called 'antipsychiatry'
movement. Challenged the semantic labelling of someone as
'mentally ill' from a libertarian viewpoint.
The
Thomas Szasz Cybercenter for Liberty and
Responsibility
Harry Stack
Sullivan
American psychiatrist who pioneered the study of
schizophrenia as an interpersonal event, and a heavy
influence on Laing's theories on schizophrenia.
A
page on Sullivan
Colin
Wilson
Author of the bestselling existentialist work The
Outsider (not to be confused with the Albert Camus novel
of the same title), which vividly portrayed the position of
the alienated loner within society. The Outsider
strongly influenced the writing style of The Divided
Self. Wilson has gone on to write about criminology, the
occult and fringe archaeology.
The
Colin Wilson Page
Donald
Winnicott
Generally considered to be the greatest ever British
psychoanalyst, Winnicott was among the first people to read
the original manuscript of The Divided Self. Although
Winnicott's position within the psychoanalytic mainstream,
coupled with Laing's maverick status, meant that Winnicott
was reluctant to be seen to be associated with Laing, in
private the two men had enormous respect for each other's
work.
D.
W. Winnicott 1895-1971: A Summary and Tribute
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