This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Cohen, C. I. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cohen, C. I. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Re-Establishing a Dialectic of Madness

Attending in Community Psychiatry, Bellevue Hospital, N.Y.U. Medical Center

Historical evidence indicates that until the seventeenth century, a dialectical conception of madness existed; it combined the elements of loss of reason and idiocy with prophecy and clairvoyance. The onset of the Age of Reason marked the end of man's communication with madness and the accompanying dissolution of the dialectic - madness became solely a symbol of opprobrium and the insane were herded off into houses of confinement.

Because mad people are returning to the streets again, it is important that we begin to explore the potential benefits that can be derived from re-establishing our communications with madness, i.e. reconstituting the dialectic. An examination of the formerly valued aspects of madness can serve as a useful point of departure.

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Vol. 24, No. 4, 241-246 (1978)
DOI: 10.1177/002076407802400402


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?