100 years of Jaspers' "General Psychopathology": International conference

"In the prism of science. One hundred years of general psychopathology" - this is the title of a scientific conference taking place in Oldenburg and Bremen from 7 to 9 November. The organisers - the University of Oldenburg in co-operation with the Karl Jaspers Society and the Klinikum Bremen Ost with its associated KulturAmbulanz - are expecting international speakers from the fields of psychology, medicine and philosophy as well as over 100 participants.

The first edition of "General Psychopathology" by Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) was published 100 years ago. This "guide for students, doctors and psychologists" quickly became a classic and still allows the diversity of psychopathological approaches to be organised and critically compared from a methodological point of view. Jaspers experts and psychiatrists from German-speaking countries subject Jaspers' psychopathology to a critical revision. They pursue questions such as: What does the book still have to say today from the perspective of biological psychiatry? What significance does it have for contemporary social psychiatry? How can it be assessed from a behavioural therapy perspective? What insights can Jaspers, with his Kantian view of freedom, offer for philosophical questions in psychiatry?

The opening event will take place on Thursday, 7 November at 7 p.m. in Oldenburg Castle. The opening lecture "Karl Jaspers, General Pathology and Psychiatry during the National Socialist Era" will be given by Prof Dr Volker Roelcke, Professor of History of Medicine at the University of Giessen. Mr Roelcke has been Chair of the Commission for the History of the German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Neurology (DGPPN) since 2009. In his lecture, he will discuss psychiatry during the Nazi era and examine the relevance of Jaspers' attempts to shed light on medical crimes after 1945.

The second day of the conference on Friday, 8 November at 9.15 a.m. at Klinikum Bremen Ost, Haus im Park (Züricher Straße 40, 28325 Bremen) will begin with the lecture "Jaspers and Anthropological Psychiatry" by Prof. Dr Thomas Fuchs, Karl Jaspers Professor for the Philosophical Foundations of Psychiatry at the University of Heidelberg. The clinical aspects of Jaspers' psychopathology will then take centre stage. A reading from Jaspers' psychiatric correspondence with the actress Irene Kleinschmidt and musical accompaniment by the Nomos Quartet Hannover at 6.30 pm will round off the event.

The final event of the conference will take place in the auditorium of the Altes Gymnasium Oldenburg (Theaterwall 11, 26122 Oldenburg) - Jaspers' former grammar school - on Saturday, 9 November. Prof Dr Dietrich von Engelhardt, university lecturer for science and theory, will give the lecture "Karl Jaspers as an interdisciplinary thinker between science, philosophy and art" at 9.30 am. On this day, the experts will focus on philosophical and cultural issues that are relevant to Karl Jaspers and his "General Psychopathology".

The conference is recognised by the state medical associations of Bremen and Lower Saxony as further training and is aimed not only at specialists but also at those interested in philosophy and culture.
Registration is possible via email: susanne.spilker(Klammeraffe)klinikum-bremen-ost.de. Participation in the events in Oldenburg is free of charge. The participation fee for the event (including concert) in Bremen is 50 euros; students, members of the Karl Jaspers Society and the GLEO pay 25 euros.