Fritz Perls (1893–1970): “You Will Not Tell Me What to Do”

This chapter is about Fritz Perls, the central figure of humanistic psychology. He developed Gestalt therapy as a method of psychotherapy. After a life full of ups and downs in various places around the world, Perls—it seems at least—would rather die than slowly succumb to rampant cancer. Throughout his life, he defiantly emphasized the “here and now” and his individual freedom. In the last minutes of his life, he does everything to prevent his self-responsibility from being taken away. In the face of death, he essentially perishes out of resistance to the nurse’s recommendations, who appeals to his reason, which he does not accept.