Albert Moll : Mind, Sex, Ethics

Albert Moll (1862–1939) was a Berlin psychiatrist and neurologist whose work helped establish psychotherapy, sexology, and medical ethics as scientific disciplines. In Andreas-Holger Maehle’s first scientific biography, Moll, who has often remained in the shadow of eminent contemporaries, emerges as a pivotal and controversial figure who merits sustained scholarly attention.

Moll made influential contributions to the treatment of nervous and sexual disorders, most notably by introducing hypnotic suggestion therapy in Germany despite strong resistance. Working outside Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis, he developed his own theory of sexuality and a distinctive therapeutic approach to what were then labelled deviant desires. As a founder of sexual science, he served as a medical expert in court cases, and his distinction between physical and affectionate components of desire proved enduring. Moll’s intellectual independence was connected with uncompromising commitment to scientific objectivity, and this set him apart from his contemporaries. He rejected Freud’s emphasis on childhood sexuality; criticized Magnus Hirschfeld’s activist sexual politics; opposed parapsychology and occultism; and, in Ärztliche Ethik (1902), he reconceived the doctor-patient relationship as a tacit contract centred on patient self-determination, particularly in hospital experimentation. Moll’s ideas anticipated later principles of autonomy and informed consent, while his public criticism of unethical practices in Berlin hospitals, alongside his other public disputes, marginalized him.

Drawing on scientific and popular writings, as well as archival sources including Moll’s forensic reports, this engaging biography offers a compelling account of an innovator and fierce critic in the medical world of Imperial and Weimar Germany.