Interintellect Hostcast Dan Lowe: On the I Ching and Wilhelm Reich
Sep 8, 2023
Anna Gat talks to Dan Lowe about Wilhelm Reich and his upcoming salon. They explore alternative forms of understanding the human psyche, the evolution of therapy practices, and the influence of Shakespeare on emotional expression and embodiment.
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How Lowe First Found Reich
- Dan Lowe first encountered Wilhelm Reich via Robert Anton Wilson and then wrote his university dissertation on Reich's work.
- That academic path led Lowe to study Reich's wider corpus and track his influence on political psychology and therapy.
Fascism As Libidinal Phenomenon
- Reich offered a psychological reading of fascism by focusing on libido, mass emotion, and the choreography of rallies and uniforms.
- This reframes political movements as driven by embodied, libidinal forces rather than only ideology or economics.
From Symptoms To Character And Body
- Reich shifted psychoanalysis toward character and the body's role in expression, not just symptoms or talk alone.
- He probed libido as a tangible energetic process and asked whether it could be observed and measured.