What is the relationship between madness, mental illness and the clash of civilizations today?
The metaphor of a world gone mad is fitting for a world crisis, which affects society, culture, politics and competing civilizations. It is a charge some world leaders make about the West, and some intellectuals use to criticise the West as a decadent culture. But history shows that sometimes big historical turning points can change our ideas of madness or mental illness itself. Big changes in the world impact our inner mental world too.
In this episode I discuss:
- Michel Foucault, History of Madness (1961), abridged as Madness and Civilization (1965), and its profound legacy for politics and history today
- the outline of Foucault's history of madness and how big historical turning points can change our ideas of madness or mental illness itself
- my reflections on whether changes of the last 60 years are leading to another big shift in our ideas about madness or mental illness and its relationship to culture, civilization and political order.
Get more details on this podcast by subscribing to my free weekly newsletter at jeffrich.substack.com where you can also support by content and writing with an upgraded subscription.
Please also buy my book, From the Burning Archive that includes essays on madness, mental illness, history and Foucault.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeff-rich4/message
98. Madness and Western Civilization, Today