Alfred Erich Hoche (August 1, 1865 - May 16, 1943) was a German psychiatrist well-known for his writings about eugenics. August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ... May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (137th in leap years). ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that studies and treats mental and emotional disorders (see mental illness). ... Eugenics is the self-direction of human evolution: Logo from the Second International Congress of Eugenics, 1921, depicting it as a tree which unites a variety of different fields. ...

From 1902 he was a professor at Freiburg im Breisgau and was a director of the psychiatric clinic there. He was a major opponent of the psychoanalysis theories of Sigmund Freud. In 1920 together with judge Karl Binding he wrote the book Die Freigabe der Vernichtung lebensunwerten Lebens. Ihr Maß und ihre Form (Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Living. Its Extent and Form). The work and argument were later used by the Nazis as a justification for their euthanasia program. This article is about Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ... Psychoanalysis is a family of psychological theories and methods within the field of psychotherapy that seeks to elucidate connections among unconscious components of patients mental processes, and to do so in a systematic way through a process of tracing out associations. ... Karl Lorenz Binding (born June 4, 1841 in Frankfurt; died April 7, 1920 in Freiburg) was a German criminal jurist and a promoter of the theory of retributive justice. ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Euthanasia (Greek: ευθανασία - ευ good, θανατος death) refers to assisted dying. ...

Binding and Hoche did not consider all human life as being of equal value and they sort to justify euthanasia and the killing of the mentally sick especially those seen as being "mentally dead" or "unworthy of living". They defined these terms as being a person that is not conscious of itself, has no feelings or relation to its environment, is completly helpless and must be cared for by others. Such a person would be unable to realise its own personality and have only the sort of simple feelings displayed by other animals. A person was seen as being "unworthy of living" when their life had no value for themselves or for society. Euthanasia (Greek: ευθανασία - ευ good, θανατος death) refers to assisted dying. ...

Who did they want to kill?

Binding and Hoche claimed that some people would be better off dead, due to the fact that they were often treated badly by society. Other reasons for killing were that a person's life was full of pain and suffering or due to the "terrible burden" suffered by society, doctors, carers and the person's family. Binding and Hoche considered the mentally ill "to be on the same intellectual level as we first find in the lower animals".

The three types of Euthanasia

Binding and Hoche devided the people which they saw as comming into consideration for killing into three groups.

The first group included people that have suffered a major accident and are suffering terrible pain or have an untreatable illness such as cancer. It is important to note here that the person is not mentally ill and is fully able to communicate in some way to their relatives or doctors that they wish to die and that they can not kill themselves. They may not be able to kill themselves because they lack the "courage" to do so.

The second group are the mentally ill - whether they were born so or have become so due to illness was of no relevance. These people allegedly had neither the will to live, nor to die and so it was not necessary - or possible - to gain their permission to kill them. Their lives were seen as being absolutely pointless and a terrible burden for relatives and society.

The third group consisted of those people that were of "healthy personality" but now due to some event, possibly a serious injury or accident are in a state of coma and if they should awake from this state will find themselves in a state of terrible suffering.

Who was to decide?

Before a killing could be carried out, a "Freigebungsausschuß" had to be set up. This was to consist of a doctor, a psychiatrist, a lawyer and one other person who was to direct the proceedings. Neither the doctor nor the person applying for the killing was allowed to be a relation of the "patient".

Although Binding and Hoche`s ideas greatly influenced the Nazis' T4 euthanasia programme, which used their terms "mentally dead", "life unworthy of living" and set up a "Freigebungsausschuß", they themselves never justified the killing of people which wanted to continue living. They stated that, "even the opinion of the most sick, suffering or useless person must be respected". And so a killing was only to be allowed if the "patient" wanted to die or - in the case of the seriously mentally ill, was not able to state their opinion. The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Euthanasia (Greek: ευθανασία - ευ good, θανατος death) refers to assisted dying. ...

Today we find Binding and Hoche's ideas influencing the vast majority of people calling for the legalisation of euthanasia. An example being the australian philosopher, Peter Singer. Euthanasia (Greek: ευθανασία - ευ good, θανατος death) refers to assisted dying. ... Prof. ...

Hoche's other body of work on the classification system of mental illness had great influence. The Scream, the famous painting commonly thought of as depicting the experience of mental illness. ...

He also published poetry under the pseudonym Alfred Erich.