Thomas S. Szasz, M. D.



 
       Thomas S. Szasz was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1920. He was graduated with honors in physics and received his M.D. degree from the University of Cincinnati. He served as a staff member at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis and taught at the University of Wisconsin, Marquette University School of Medicine, and New Mexico State University. He is currently professor of psychiatry emeritus at SUNY Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York, where he has taught since 1956.
       Dr. Szasz has received numerous awards, among which are The Ralph Khara Award (American Civil Liberties Union, New York Chapter), The .Annual Civil Liberties Lectureship (Cornell Law School), The Holmes- Munsterberg,Award (The International Commission for Human Rights), and the Noel Buxton Lectureship (University of Essex, Colchester, England).
       Dr. Szasz is the author of over 600 articles, book chapters, book reviews, and newspaper columns. Included among the many books he has authored are The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct (Hoeber-Harper, 1961); Psychiatric Justice (Macmillan, 1965); Ceremonial Chemistry: The Ritual Persecution of Drugs, Addicts, and Pushers (Doubleday Anchor, 1976); Schizophrenia: The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry (Basic Books, 1976); The Myth of Psychotherapy: Mental Healing as Religion, Rhetoric, and Repression (Syracuse University Press, 1990); The Untamed Tongue: A Dissenting Dictionary (Open Court, 1990); Our Right to Drugs: The Case for a Free Market (Praeger, 1992); A Lexicon of Lunacy. Metaphoric Malady, Moral Responsibility, and Psychiatry (Transaction Publishers, 1993); and Cruel Compassion (John Wiley, 1994).
       This is an excerpt of an article that originally appeared in the March 1969 issue of The Georgetown Law Journal. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, © 1969, The Georgetown Law Journal and Georgetown University. The excerpt was reprinted in the January 1994 issue of Freedom Daily, published by The Future of Freedom Foundation.


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