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)- ., ...... { ) _, ' '· ' . . . '-.;:--- - - ' - -[-; .. I' ..� � '..:. . ,� 1 � � /' .. ' \- - ,� l •, ' o � ·' . �- . , I l ) ) ) THE FUNCTION J Volume I of OF THE ORGASM ) of the ) The piscovery ) SEX-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF BIOLOGICAL ENERGY ) ) ... . ) � \ Newly translated from the German

• . i' ) by J7incent R. Car/agno ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) � ) c:><:::::]> ) FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX )

NEW YORK ) ) ). Copyright © 1973 by Mary Boyd Higgins as Trustee of the Wilhelm -Love, work and knowledge are the well-springs of our life. Reich Infant Trust Fund They should also govern it. Die Entdeckung des Orgons, Erster Teil: Die Function des Orgasmus, WILHELM REICH copyright @1968 by Mary Boyd Higgins as Trustee of the Wilhelm Reich Infant }'rust Fund

Earlier translation published under the title The Discovery of the Orgone, Volume 1: The Function of the Orgasm, copyright 1942, 1948 by the Orgone Institute Press, Inc. >

All rights reserv'ed �·-

Library of Congress catalog card number: 72-81011

Printed in the United States of America

Published simultaneously in Canada by Doubleday Canada Ltd., Toronto ) )

) )

I .. , FOREWORD ·' ) ) ) In the death of Wilhelm Reich, the emotional plague ) claimed its most formidable opponent. Throughout all of recorded history those who had been killed by the effects of ) this specifically human disease were invariably its "innocent" ) victims. Reich, however, did not become a victim innocently. ) as the first man to deliberately study and to satisfac­ He w ) torily understand the biopathological basis of this scourge which is created by the suppression of genital love life on a ) mass scale. Throughout his entire life, he sought a practical ) method of combatting it. He never failed to draw attention ) e fact that the emotional plague was the one enemy to th ) of man which, unless accurately understood and effectively ) 1 fought, would make impossible the elimination of the agony of the child, the adolescent, and of the masses of biophysi­ ) cally and emotionally sick human beings. Consequently, when ) o fell victim to this disease, it was not unexpected. He he to ) realized the risk involved, and with the courage of a true scientist he exposed himself to its destructive effects; seeking ) in the process, without compromising the scientific truth, to ) find a way out of the legalistic rigmarole in which the plague ) meshed him. had en ) Since Reich's death, there has been an insistent demand

for his writings, which strongly indicates that the plague has I fallen short of its intention-the concealment of the truth. Vll > FOREWORD Vlll The slanderous assaults upon his person, designed to dis­ credit him and, thereby, to divert attention from his signifi­ cant discoveries, have lost some-unfortunately, not all­ of their impact, and it now may be possible to turn to a sober scrutiny of his work. . . The Function of the Orgasm was the first of Re1ch , s wnt- ings to be translated into English. It is not a textbook . It . . is rather a scientific biography. "A systemattc presentatwn . . PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION could not have� given the reader a picture of