SOWK 2035 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Leprosy, Hypochondriasis, Philippe Pinel
13 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
The history of the concept of madness could fill many books but for the purposes of this lecture we will focus on. Foucault attempts to outline the historical and sociological context in which current concepts of madness, i. e. , the opposite of reason were formed. We begin in the 15th and 16th centuries. This period saw an increase in interest with madness. Madness was seen as a dangerous seeing of essential truth. Dangerous because madness allowed people a glimpse at a more fundamental order of reality that people were not meant to see. Despite this gift, people who did not conform to norms of society were often considered unpleasant to be around and were occasionally cast away. It is the association of water being a purifying element that, in part, leads to the creation of the ship of fools. This ship would travel through rivers in europe carrying these social castaways and were often paid by villages to leave.
