You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Even if Dr. Zilboorg had not himself contributed so brilliantly to the subject of medical psychology he would have made a name by this book, which is of outstanding value. It has two special merits. In the first place it is a full, accurate, and extraordinarily learned presentation of its subject, and must rank as a first-rate and lasting text-book on it. The author has expended sixteen years on what was evidently a labour of love, and we are glad to express to him our gratitude for the result. Then, and what is even more important, the author displays a remarkable grasp of essentials, and illumines his story with reflections that show how deeply and profitably he has assimilated his extensive knowledge. With a true sense of history and with an unusual philosophic breadth of scope, he allows a keen imagination continually to penetrate below the surface of things and discover their inner meaning. To do this he views each step in development, and each set-back, through contemporary eyes, and is thus far removed from those who pass superior judgements from the standpoint of later epochs. All this means tolerance, understanding and objectivity, qualities the author possesses in high order.
Dr. Zilboorg views the development of psychiatry in the closest relation to the cultural background of the moment. His concluding words are: 'The whole course of the history of medical psychology is punctuated by the medical man's struggle to rise above the prejudice of all ages in order to identify himself with the psychological realities of his patients. Every time such an identification was achieved the medical man became a psychiatrist. The history of psychiatry is essentially the history of humanism. Every time humanism has diminished or degenerated into mere philanthropic sentimentality, psychiatry has entered a new ebb. Every time the spirit of humanism has arisen, a new contribution to psychiatry has been made.' What he means by humanism in this connection is simp