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Page 1: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title States Code)users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/I'mnotcrazy!/foucaultmadness.pdf · 2017. 2. 20. · history of madness in the Classical Age,

Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions

The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research. Jf electronic transmission of reserve material is used for purposes in excess of what constitutes "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

Page 2: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title States Code)users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/I'mnotcrazy!/foucaultmadness.pdf · 2017. 2. 20. · history of madness in the Classical Age,

The Cambridge Companion to

FOUCAULT Second Edition

Edited by Gary Gutting University of Notre Dame

..... :~ .... CAMBRIDGE ::: UNIVERSITY PRESS

Page 3: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title States Code)users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/I'mnotcrazy!/foucaultmadness.pdf · 2017. 2. 20. · history of madness in the Classical Age,

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo

Cambridge University Press 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY IOOl 1-4211, usA

www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521840828

© Cambridge University Press 2005

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2005

Printed in the United States of America

A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

The Cambridge companion to Foucault/ edited by Gary Gutting - 2nd ed. p. cm. - (Cambridge companions to philosophy)

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-521-84082-1 - ISBN 0-521-6005 3-7 (pbk.) 1. Foucault, Michel. I. Gutting, Gary. II. Title. III. Series. B2430.F724c36 2006 194-dc22 2005005777

ISBN-13 978-0-521-84082-8 hardback ISBN-IO 0-521-84082-1 hardback

ISBN-13 978-0-521-60053-8 paperback ISBN-IO 0-521-60053-7 paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLS for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this book and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

CONTENTS

Contributors Pref ace to the Secom Biographical Chrono

Introduction Michel Foucault: A { GARY GUTTING

I. Foucault's Mapping c THOMAS FLYNN

2. Foucault and the Hi~ GARY GUTTING

3. The Death of Man, c GEORGES CANGUILF. TRANSLATED BY CA1

4. Power/Knowledge JOSEPH ROUSE

5. Ethics as Ascetics: F and Ancient Thougli ARNOLD I. DAVIDSO

6. Michel Foucault's E1 JAMES W. BERNAUEl

vii

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a :J e

l

2

GARY GUTTING

Foucault and the History of Madness

I am not a professional historian; nobody is perfect. Michel Foucault'

FOUCAULT AMONG THE HISTORIANS. PART I

Michel Foucault's work always had an ambivalent relation to es-tablished academic disciplines, but almost all his books are at least superficially classifiable as histories. His first major work, in par-ticular, seems to proclaim its status in the title: Histoire de la folie a l'age classique. 2 One plausible way of trying to understand and evaluate this seminal book is by assessing its status as a work of history.

The reactions of professional historians to Histoire de la foile seem, at first reading, sharply polarized.3 There are many acknowl-edgments of its seminal role, beginning with Robert Mandrou's early review in Annales, characterizing it as a "beautiful book" that will be "of central importance for our understanding of the Classical period."4 Twenty years later, Michael MacDonald con-firmed Mandrou's prophecy: "Anyone who writes about the history of insanity in early modern Europe must travel in the spreading wake of Michel Foucault's famous book, Madness and Civilization." 5

Later endorsements have been even stronger. Jan Goldstein: "For both their empirical content and their powerful theoretical per-spectives, the works of Michel Foucault occupy a special and cen-tral place in the historiography of psychiatry. 116 Roy Porter: "Time has proved Madness and Civilization far the most penetrating work ever written on the history of madness."? More specifically,

49

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50

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

Fouc

ault

has r

ecen

tly b

een

hera

lded

as a

pro

phet

of "

the

new

cul

tura

l hi

stor

y."8

But

cri

ticis

m h

as a

lso

been

wid

espr

ead

and

ofte

n bi

tter.

Con

side

r H

. C

. Er

ic M

idel

fort

's co

nclu

sion

fro

m h

is v

ery

infl

uent

ial a

sses

s-m

ent o

f Fou

caul

t's h

isto

rica

l cla

ims:

Wha

t w

e ha

ve d

isco

vere

d in

look

ing

at M

adne

ss a

nd C

ivili

zatio

n is

tha

t m

any

of it

s ar

gum

ents

fly

in th

e fa

ce o

f em

piri

cal e

vide

nce,

and

that

man

y of

its

broa

dest

gen

eral

izat

ions

are

ove

rsim

plif

icat

ions

. Ind

eed,

in

his

ques

t fo

r th

e es

senc

e of

an

age,

its

epis

tem

e, F

ouca

ult s

eem

s si

mpl

y to

indu

lge

in

a w

him

for

arbi

trar

y an

d w

itty

ass

ertio

n so

oft

en th

at o

ne w

onde

rs w

hy s

o m

uch

atte

ntio

n an

d pr

aise

con

tinue

to fa

ll hi

s w

ay.9

Man

y of

Mid

elfo

rt's

cnt1

c1Sm

s, if

not

alw

ays

his

over

all

asse

ss-

men

t, ha

ve b

een

wid

ely

endo

rsed

by,

for

exa

mpl

e, P

eter

Sed

gwic

k,

Law

renc

e St

one,

Ian

Hac

king

, and

Dom

inic

k La

Cap

ra. r

o

From

the

abov

e ju

xtap

ositi

on o

f tex

ts,

it w

ould

see

m th

at h

isto

-ri

ans

are

shar

ply

split

in th

eir v

iew

of t

he v

alue

of F

ouca

ult's

wor

k.

But

the

div

isio

n pr

etty

muc

h di

sapp

ears

on

clos

er s

crut

iny.

Tho

se

who

app

laud

Fou

caul

t hav

e pr

imar

ily in

min

d w

hat w

e m

ay c

all h

is

met

a-le

vel c

laim

s abo

ut h

ow m

adne

ss sh

ould

be

appr

oach

ed as

a h

is-

tori

ogra

phic

al to

pic.

The

y ar

e im

pres

sed

by h

is v

iew

of m

adne

ss a

s a

vari

able

soci

al c

onst

ruct

, not

an

ahis

tori

cal s

cien

tific

giv

en, a

nd o

f th

e hi

stor

y of

mad

ness

as

an e

ssen

tial p

art o

f the

his

tory

of r

easo

n.

The

se v

iew

s are

now

gen

eral

ly ac

cept

ed b

y hi

stor

ians

of p

sych

iatr

y, 11

and

Fouc

ault

was

one

of t

he fi

rst t

o pu

t the

m fo

rwar

d. I

n th

is s

ense

he

is a

wid

ely

and

prop

erly

reve

red

fath

er o

f the

new

his

tory

of p

sy-

chia

try.

But

on

the

"obj

ect-

leve

l" o

f spe

cifi

c hi

stor

ical

fact

s an

d in

-te

rpre

tatio

ns,

the

cons

ensu

s of

eve

n fa

vora

bly

disp

osed

his

tori

ans

is t

hat

Fouc

ault'

s w

ork

is s

erio

usly

wan

ting.

And

rew

Scu

ll, w

hose

w

ork

shar

es m

uch

of th

e ge

nera

l spi

rit o

f Fou

caul

t's, n

onet

hele

ss e

n-do

rses

wha

t he

righ

tly sa

ys is

"th

e ve

rdic

t of m

ost A

nglo

-Am

eric

an

spec

ialis

ts: t

hat M

adne

ss a

nd C

ivili

zatio

n is

a pr

ovoc

ativ

e and

daz

z-lin

gly

wri

tten

pro

se p

oem

, but

one

rest

ing

on th

e sh

akie

st o

f sch

ol-

arly

foun

datio

ns a

nd ri

ddle

d w

ith

erro

rs o

f fac

t and

inte

rpre

tatio

n."1

2

Sim

ilarly

, Pat

rici

a O'B

rien

, in

an a

rtic

le e

xpre

ssin

g gr

eat e

nthu

sias

m

for F

ouca

ult's

wor

k, a

gree

s tha

t "hi

stor

ians

who

are

will

ing

to a

dmit

th

at F

ouca

ult w

as w

ritin

g hi

stor

y fi

nd it

bad

his

tory

, too

gen

eral

, too

un

subs

tant

iate

d, to

o m

echa

nist

ic."

13

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

51

Even

his

tori

ans

who

hav

e a

mor

e fa

vora

ble

view

of

Fouc

ault'

s sp

ecif

ic h

isto

rica

l cla

ims a

re re

luct

ant t

o ac

cept

him

as

a m

embe

r of

thei

r trib

e. J

an G

olds

tein

, aft

er m

aint

aini

ng th

at "

Fouc

ault

used

his

-to

rica

l mat

eria

l to

grea

t adv

anta

ge" a

nd th

at "

his h

isto

rica

l sen

se w

as

extr

aord

inar

ily a

cute

," g

oes

on to

not

e th

at "

Fouc

ault

alw

ays

con-

side

red

him

self

at l

east

as

muc

h a

philo

soph

er a

s a

hist

oria

n, w

hose

ep

iste

mol

ogic

al a

nd p

oliti

cal p

roje

ct r

equi

red

that

he

chal

leng

e th

e or

dina

ry c

anon

s of h

isto

ry w

ritin

g."1

4 C

onse

quen

tly, a

s she

rem

arks

in

a re

view

of D

isci

plin

e an

d Pu

nish

, "th

e us

ual c

rite

ria

of h

isto

rica

l sc

hola

rshi

p ca

nnot

be u

sed

to a

sses

s Fou

caul

t's w

ork.

"1s M

acD

onal

d is

sim

ilarl

y am

biva

lent

: "M

uch

of w

hat F

ouca

ult h

as to

say

seem

s to

me

to b

e co

rrec

t, in

spi

te o

f his

reje

ctio

n of

the

prev

ailin

g st

anda

rds

of h

isto

rica

l dis

cour

se"

(xi).

Alla

n M

egill

goe

s eve

n fu

rthe

r. Fo

r him

, no

t onl

y do

es F

ouca

ult's

wor

k fa

ll ou

tsid

e th

e di

scip

line

of h

isto

ry,

"he

is a

ntid

isci

plin

ary,

sta

ndin

g ou

tsid

e al

l dis

cipl

ines

and

dra

win

g fr

om th

em o

nly

in th

e ho

pe o

f und

erm

inin

g th

em. "

16

At

leas

t on

e Fo

ucau

ltian

, C

olin

Gor

don,

has

opp

osed

thi

s co

n-se

nsus

, arg

uing

that

his

tori

ans

have

reje

cted

Fou

caul

t's c

oncl

usio

ns

beca

use

they

hav

e no

t pro

perl

y un

ders

tood

him

. The

dif

ficu

lties

of

His

toir

e de

la

folie

and

, es

peci

ally

, th

e gr

eatly

abr

idge

d na

ture

of

its E

nglis

h tr

ansl

atio

n ha

ve le

d to

mis

info

rmed

cri

ticis

m. "

His

toir

e de

la fo

lie h

as b

een

a la

rgel

y un

read

or m

isre

ad b

ook.

III?

If, h

e su

g-ge

sts,

we

read

Fou

caul

t's fu

ll te

xt w

ith

care

, we

will

find

mos

t of t

he

stan

dard

cri

ticis

ms

to b

e m

ispl

aced

and

reco

gniz

e hi

s w

ork

as a

rich

so

urce

of d

etai

led

hist

oric

al in

sigh

t. W

e ha

ve,

then

, th

ree

sugg

estio

ns r

egar

ding

Fou

caul

t's h

isto

ry o

f m

adne

ss. T

he c

onse

nsus

of w

orki

ng h

isto

rian

s is

tha

t it i

s ba

d hi

s-to

ry.

To t

his

Col

in G

ordo

n re

spon

ds t

hat

it is

goo

d hi

stor

y (o

r, at

le

ast,

that

ther

e ar

e no

t yet

suff

icie

nt g

roun

ds fo

r thi

nkin

g it

is b

ad).

Que

stio

ning

the

pres

uppo

sitio

n of

bot

h th

ese

view

s is

the

clai

m o

f G

olds

tein

and

Meg

ill th

at it

is n

ot h

isto

ry a

t all.

G

ordo

n is

cle

arly

righ

t tha

t man

y of

the

stan

dard

his

tori

cal c

rit-

icis

ms

of H

isto

ire

de la

fol

ie a

re m

isdi

rect

ed. M

idel

fort

, bec

ause

of

his

wid

e in

flue

nce,

is th

e be

st e

xam

ple.

He

says

that

cons

ider

ed a

s hi

stor

y, F

ouca

ult's

arg

umen

t res

ts o

n fo

ur b

asic

con

tent

ions

. T

he fi

rst .

.. is

the

forc

eful

par

alle

l bet

wee

n th

e m

edie

val i

sola

tion

of le

pros

y an

d th

e m

oder

n is

olat

ion

of m

adne

ss ..

.. S

econ

d is

Fou

caul

t's c

onte

ntio

n th

at i

n th

e la

te M

iddl

e A

ges

and

earl

y R

enai

ssan

ce t

he m

ad le

d an

'eas

y

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52

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

wan

deri

ng li

fe,'

mad

ness

hav

ing

been

rec

ogni

zed

as p

art

of t

ruth

....

The

th

ird

maj

or c

onte

ntio

n ..

. is

that

thi

s op

enne

ss [

of t

he M

iddl

e A

ges

and

Ren

aiss

ance

to m

adne

ss] d

isap

pear

ed in

the

Age

of t

he G

reat

Con

fine

men

t, be

ginn

ing

in t

he m

id-s

even

teen

th c

entu

ry ..

.. T

he f

ourt

h an

d fin

al c

on-

tent

ion

posi

ts a

tran

sitio

n to

mad

ness

as

men

tal i

llnes

s, i

n w

hich

Fou

caul

t ex

amin

es t

he w

ork

of t

he r

efor

mer

s, T

uke

and

Pine

l, an

d co

nclu

des

that

th

ey "

inve

nted

" m

enta

l illn

ess.

18

The

read

er o

f Fou

caul

t's b

ook

is im

med

iate

ly st

ruck

by

the

oddi

ty

of cl

aim

ing

that

thes

e are

its "

basi

c con

tent

ions

." A

lthou

gh F

ouca

ult

expl

icitl

y of

fere

d a

hist

ory

of m

adne

ss in

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge, i

t see

ms

that

thre

e of

his

four

cen

tral

cla

ims

are

abou

t oth

er p

erio

ds. I

n fa

ct,

neith

er o

f the

firs

t tw

o co

nten

tions

is c

entr

al to

Fou

caul

t's ar

gum

ent.

He b

egin

s his

boo

k by

sugg

estin

g th

at le

pros

y in

the M

iddl

e Age

s bor

e so

me

stri

king

func

tiona

l par

alle

ls to

mad

ness

in th

e C

lass

ical

Age

: B

oth

lepe

rs a

nd th

e m

ad w

ere

obje

cts o

f fea

r and

repu

lsio

n; b

oth

wer

e is

olat

ed in

hou

ses

desi

gned

mor

e fo

r se

para

tion

from

soc

iety

tha

n fo

r cu

res;

bot

h w

ere

used

as

join

t sig

ns o

f div

ine

just

ice

and

mer

cy;

and

in s

ome

case

s fu

nds

and

inst

itut

ions

ori

gina

lly m

eant

for l

eper

s ca

me

to b

e us

ed fo

r the

mad

. The

re is

, Fou

caul

t thi

nks,

a n

ice

para

l-le

l bet

wee

n th

e tw

o ph

enom

ena,

a p

aral

lel h

e us

es a

s a

rhet

oric

ally

ef

fect

ive

open

ing

of h

is b

ook.

But

as f

ar a

s hi

stor

ical

subs

tanc

e go

es,

the

lepr

osy

disc

ussi

on is

ent

irel

y no

ness

entia

l. Le

ave

it o

ut a

nd th

e co

re o

f Fou

caul

t's a

rgum

ent a

bout

the

nat

ure

of C

lass

ical

mad

ness

an

d it

s re

latio

n to

mod

ern

psyc

hiat

ry is

una

ffec

ted.

To

som

e ex

tent

, the

sam

e is

true

of t

he c

ontr

ast F

ouca

ult s

ets

up

betw

een

the

inte

grat

ion

of m

adne

ss in

to m

edie

val a

nd R

enai

ssan

ce

exis

tenc

e an

d its

exc

lusi

on b

y th

e C

lass

ical

Age

. T

he m

ain

poin

t is

tha

t ex

clus

ion

and

conf

inem

ent w

ere

dist

inct

ive

feat

ures

of

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge's

atti

tude

tow

ard

mad

ness

. Fo

ucau

lt sk

etch

es a

n in

-ge

niou

s an

d pr

ovoc

ativ

e st

ory

abou

t the

med

ieva

l and

Ren

aiss

ance

vi

ewpo

ints

, but

no

cent

ral a

rgum

ent d

epen

ds o

n th

is a

ccou

nt. T

he

need

ful p

oint

is m

erel

y th

at e

xclu

sion

and

con

fine

men

t dis

tingu

ish

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge in

a fu

ndam

enta

l way

from

the p

rece

ding

cent

urie

s.

Bey

ond

this

, Fou

caul

t's h

ypot

hese

s as

to w

hat w

ent o

n in

the

Mid

dle

Age

s an

d th

e R

enai

ssan

ce a

re ju

st in

trig

uing

mar

gina

lia.

In a

ny c

ase,

the

spe

cifi

c ob

ject

ions

Mid

elfo

rt ra

ises

to F

ouca

ult's

cl

aim

s ab

out t

he p

re-C

lass

ical

per

iod

are

of li

ttle

wei

ght.

He

poin

ts

out,

for

exam

ple,

tha

t th

e m

ad w

ere

isol

ated

fro

m s

ocie

ty d

urin

g

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

53

this

per

iod,

par

ticul

arly

whe

n th

ey p

osed

a th

reat

to o

ther

s or t

hem

-se

lves

, an

d th

at t

here

wer

e sp

ecia

l ho

spita

ls f

or t

he m

ad in

Spa

in

duri

ng th

e fi

ftee

nth

cent

ury.

Her

e M

idel

fort

mis

take

s a

clai

m a

bout

th

e fu

ndam

enta

l at

titu

de o

f a

peri

od w

ith

a cl

aim

abo

ut t

he f

irst

in

trod

uctio

n of

a p

ract

ice.

Fin

ding

exa

mpl

es o

f co

nfin

emen

t th

at

prec

ede

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge d

oes n

ot c

ount

aga

inst

the

clai

m th

at c

on-

fine

men

t ha

d a

uniq

ue r

ole

in t

hat

perio

d. O

ne c

ould

jus

t as

wel

l ar

gue

agai

nst t

he s

ecul

ar c

hara

cter

of

mod

ern

soci

ety

by c

iting

ex-

ampl

es o

f m

edie

val

and

Ren

aiss

ance

fre

e-th

inki

ng.

Mid

elfo

rt a

lso

mis

unde

rsta

nds F

ouca

ult's

pos

ition

whe

n he

urge

s aga

inst

it th

at" i

n-st

ance

s of

har

sh tr

eatm

ent o

f the

mad

[dur

ing

pre-

Cla

ssic

al p

erio

ds]

coul

d be

mul

tiplie

d ad

nau

seam

.1119

Thi

s ev

iden

ce c

ount

s ag

ains

t Fo

ucau

lt's v

iew

onl

y on

the

assu

mpt

ion

that

the

pre-

Cla

ssic

al in

clu-

sion

of m

adne

ss a

s pa

rt o

f the

"tr

uth

of h

uman

exi

sten

ce"

enta

iled

hum

ane

trea

tmen

t of

the

mad

. B

ut s

uch

an a

ssum

ptio

n m

akes

a

trav

esty

of F

ouca

ult's

acc

ount

, on

whi

ch R

enai

ssan

ce m

adne

ss, f

or

exam

ple,

is e

ither

the

criti

cally

iron

ic in

vers

e of r

easo

n or

a tr

agic

and

horr

ifyi

ng e

ncou

nter

wit

h m

onst

rous

trut

hs. 2

0 In

eith

er c

ase,

mad

-ne

ss is

an

inte

gral

but

dis

conc

ertin

g as

pect

of h

uman

life

, ess

entia

l bu

t by

no m

eans

wel

com

ed.21

Wha

t Mid

elfo

rt p

rese

nts

as F

ouca

ult's

fou

rth

basi

c co

nten

tion

-th

e "i

nven

tion

" of

m

enta

l ill

ness

by

th

e ni

nete

enth

-cen

tury

re

form

ers

-is

ind

eed

cent

ral.

Fouc

ault'

s hi

stor

y of

mad

ness

in

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge i

s in

tend

ed a

s a

basi

s fo

r sh

owin

g th

at m

adne

ss a

s m

enta

l illn

ess

was

a s

ocia

l con

stru

ctio

n fo

reig

n to

tha

t per

iod

and

orig

inal

wit

h th

e ni

nete

enth

cen

tury

. M

idel

fort

's cr

itici

sm o

f th

is

cont

entio

n, h

owev

er, i

s bas

ed o

n fu

ndam

enta

l mis

unde

rsta

ndin

gs o

f Fo

ucau

lt's p

ositi

on. H

e sa

ys, f

or e

xam

ple,

tha

t "Fo

ucau

lt fr

eque

ntly

im

plie

s tha

t pri

or to

the

nine

teen

th c

entu

ry m

adne

ss w

as n

ot a

med

-ic

al p

robl

em."

As

he n

otes

, su

ch a

n "a

sser

tion

seem

s de

liber

atel

y pr

epos

tero

us"

(256

), b

ut n

o m

ore

so th

an M

idel

fort

's at

trib

utio

n of

it

to F

ouca

ult,

who

has

freq

uent

and

det

aile

d di

scus

sion

s of

Cla

ssic

al

med

ical

tre

atm

ents

of

the

mad

. Fo

ucau

lt do

es i

nsis

t th

at c

onfi

ne-

men

t was

not

pra

ctic

ed fo

r the

rape

utic

pur

pose

s and

that

the

dist

inc-

tive

Cla

ssic

al e

xper

ienc

e of

mad

ness

ass

ocia

ted

wit

h co

nfin

emen

t di

d no

t se

e th

e m

ad a

s ill

. But

he

also

ins

ists

on

the

inel

imin

able

ro

le o

f Cla

ssic

al m

edic

al tr

eatm

ent o

f mad

ness

and

in fa

ct p

oses

the

rela

tion

betw

een

nonm

edic

al c

onfi

nem

ent a

nd m

edic

al th

erap

y as

a

maj

or p

robl

em fo

r und

erst

andi

ng m

adne

ss in

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge.

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54

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

As

to F

ouca

ult's

cla

im t

hat

refo

rmer

s su

ch a

s Pi

nel

intr

oduc

ed

a fu

ndam

enta

lly n

ew c

once

ptio

n of

mad

ness

as

men

tal

illne

ss,

Mid

elfo

rt r

espo

nds

that

"re

cent

sch

olar

ship

... d

ocum

ents

Pin

el's

expl

icit

debt

to

earl

ier

Engl

ish

theo

retic

ians

and

to

clas

sica

l an

-tiq

uity

. Fa

r fr

om s

tand

ing

in a

new

env

iron

men

t gov

erne

d by

new

ru

les .

.. ,

Pine

l cle

arly

felt

him

self

in c

ontin

uous

dia

logu

e w

ith

the

Hip

pocr

atic

-Gal

enic

tra

ditio

n."2

2 B

ut t

his

resp

onse

is

quite

bes

ide

the

poin

t unl

ess

we

fals

ely

assu

me

that

con

cept

ual i

nnov

atio

n re

-qu

ires

com

plet

e ind

epen

denc

e fro

m a

ll in

telle

ctua

l inf

luen

ces.

23

The

qu

estio

n is

whe

ther

Pin

el tr

ansf

orm

ed th

e id

eas

of th

ose

to w

hom

he

was

"in

debt

ed"

and

"in

dial

ogue

wit

h" in

to a

fund

amen

tally

new

co

ncep

tion.

Mid

elfo

rt's

poin

ting

out t

hat,

like

ever

yone

els

e, P

inel

ha

d in

telle

ctua

l anc

esto

rs h

as n

o be

arin

g on

this

issu

e.

Mid

elfo

rt's

criti

que

of F

ouca

ult's

thi

rd c

onte

ntio

n -

abou

t th

e pl

ace

of c

onfi

nem

ent

in t

he C

lass

ical

Age

-is

muc

h m

ore

to t

he

poin

t. Fo

ucau

lt's c

laim

s abo

ut c

onfi

nem

ent a

re a

bsol

utel

y ce

ntra

l to

his

posi

tion.

He

ipai

ntai

ns th

at th

e is

olat

ion

of th

e m

ad (a

long

wit

h va

riou

s ot

her p

eopl

e w

hose

beh

avio

r inv

olve

d a

reje

ctio

n of

reas

on)

in h

ouse

s of

int

ernm

ent w

as a

pra

ctic

e th

at to

ok o

n ce

ntra

l sig

nif-

ican

ce d

urin

g th

e C

lass

ical

Age

and

is e

ssen

tially

con

nect

ed w

ith

the

age's

fun

dam

enta

l ex

peri

ence

of

mad

ness

. If F

ouca

ult i

s w

rong

ab

out C

lass

ical

con

fine

men

t, th

en th

e fo

unda

tion

of h

is a

ccou

nt o

f m

adne

ss in

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge is

und

erm

ined

. R

oy P

orte

r has

dev

elop

ed th

is c

ruci

al cr

itici

sm of

Fou

caul

t in

som

e de

tail.

Fou

caul

t, he

not

es, i

nsis

ts th

at la

rge-

scal

e co

nfin

emen

t was

a

wes

tern

Eur

opea

n ph

enom

enon

, occ

urin

g, if

in s

omew

hat d

iffe

rent

w

ays a

nd a

t dif

fere

nt ra

tes,

in F

ranc

e, G

erm

any,

Eng

land

, Spa

in, a

nd

Italy

. But

at l

east

for

Engl

and

duri

ng th

e "l

ong

eigh

teen

th c

entu

ry"

(fro

m t

he R

esto

ratio

n to

the

Reg

ency

), Po

rter

mai

ntai

ns,

Fouc

ault

is v

ery

muc

h of

f th

e m

ark.

Alth

ough

ther

e w

as s

ome

conf

inem

ent

of th

e m

ad a

nd o

ther

dev

iant

s in

wor

khou

ses,

"th

e va

st m

ajor

ity o

f th

e po

or a

nd th

e tr

oubl

esom

e w

ere

not i

nter

ned

wit

hin

inst

itutio

ns,

rem

aini

ng a

t lar

ge in

soc

iety

, und

er th

e ad

min

istr

ativ

e ae

gis

of t

he

Old

Poo

r Law

." I

n pa

rtic

ular

, stu

dies

of t

he tr

eatm

ent o

f the

mad

in

spec

ific

regi

ons o

f Eng

land

show

"th

at lu

natic

s typ

ical

ly re

mai

ned

at

larg

e, th

e re

spon

sibi

lity

of th

eir f

amily

und

er th

e ey

e of

the p

aris

h. "2

4

Alth

ough

som

e of

the

mad

wer

e co

nfin

ed, t

he n

umbe

rs w

ere

quite

sm

all:

perh

aps

as li

ttle

as

50

00

and

sur

ely

no m

ore

than

rn,

ooo

by

earl

y in

the

nine

teen

th c

entu

ry, c

ompa

red

wit

h th

e al

mos

t rn

o,oo

o

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

55

conf

ined

in 1

90

0.

Con

fine

men

t, Po

rter

sug

gest

s, w

as m

uch

mor

e a

nine

teen

th-c

entu

ry p

heno

men

on;

duri

ng F

ouca

ult's

Cla

ssic

al A

ge,

"the

gro

wth

in th

e pr

actic

e of

exc

ludi

ng th

e m

ad w

as g

radu

al, l

ocal

-iz

ed, a

nd p

iece

mea

l."2

5

Port

er al

so ra

ises

impo

rtan

t que

stio

ns a

bout

Fou

caul

t's c

laim

that

in

con

fine

men

t the

mad

wer

e ho

mog

eneo

usly

mix

ed w

ith

a wid

e va-

riet

y of

oth

er so

rts o

f dev

iant

s (pr

ostit

utes

, fre

e-th

inke

rs, v

agab

onds

, et

c.)

who

vio

late

d th

e C

lass

ical

Age

's id

eal o

f rea

son.

"T

his

pict

ure

of i

ndis

crim

inat

e co

nfin

emen

t doe

s no

t se

em a

ccur

atel

y to

mat

ch

wha

t act

ually

hap

pene

d in

Eng

land

. Few

luna

tics w

ere

kept

in g

aols

, an

d w

orkh

ouse

sup

erin

tend

ents

resi

sted

thei

r adm

issi

on."

Thi

s te

n-de

ncy

"not

to

lum

p bu

t to

spl

it" w

as,

Port

er u

rges

, pa

rtic

ular

ly

evid

ent

in L

ondo

n, w

here

"sc

rupu

lous

car

e w

as t

aken

to

rese

rve

Bet

hlem

for l

unat

ics

and

Brid

ewel

l for

the

diso

rder

ly."

26

Fina

lly, P

orte

r cha

lleng

es tw

o of

Fou

caul

t's k

ey c

laim

s ab

out t

he

way

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge c

once

ived

mad

ness

(its

"ex

peri

ence

" of

mad

-ne

ss).

Acc

ordi

ng to

Fou

caul

t, m

adne

ss, l

ike

all t

he v

arie

ties o

f unr

ea-

son,

was

reje

cted

in th

e fir

st in

stan

ce b

ecau

se it

vio

late

d th

e C

lass

ical

A

ge's

mor

ality

of w

ork.

The

mad

, bei

ng id

le, w

ere

a th

reat

to th

e st

a-bi

lity

of a

bou

rgeo

is s

ocie

ty in

whi

ch la

bor

was

the

cen

tral

val

ue.

Furt

her,

Fouc

ault

held

tha

t, w

ithi

n th

e ca

tego

ry o

f un

reas

on,

the

mad

wer

e di

stin

ctiv

e fo

r th

eir a

nim

ality

, whi

ch p

ut th

em in

radi

cal

oppo

sitio

n to

the

hum

an d

omai

n of

reas

on. P

orte

r fin

ds b

oth

clai

ms

dubi

ous

in li

ght o

f the

Eng

lish

expe

rien

ce. "

I do

not,"

he

says

, "fi

nd

prom

inen

t in

eigh

teen

th-c

entu

ry d

isco

urse

the

cou

plin

gs F

ouca

ult

emph

asiz

es b

etw

een

sani

ty a

nd w

ork,

mad

ness

and

slo

th. L

ess

still

w

as t

here

any

con

cert

ed a

ttem

pt t

o pu

t th

e as

ylum

pop

ulat

ion

to

wor

k."2

7 A

s to

the

anim

ality

of t

he m

ad, P

orte

r ack

now

ledg

es it

as

one c

entr

al im

age,

but

mai

ntai

ns th

at th

ere i

s an

at le

ast a

s im

port

ant

coun

teri

mag

e th

at F

ouca

ult s

carc

ely

reco

gniz

es. T

his

is th

e Lo

ckea

n vi

ew o

f the

mad

as n

ot ra

g1hg

ani

mal

s bu

t peo

ple

who

, thr

ough

mis

-as

soci

atio

n of

idea

s, g

o de

sper

atel

y aw

ry i

n th

eir

reas

onin

g. P

orte

r sa

ys t

hat

Fouc

ault

sees

thi

s vi

ew o

f m

adne

ss a

s ar

isin

g on

ly w

ith

the

mor

al th

erap

y of

Tuk

e an

d Pi

nel e

arly

in th

e ni

nete

enth

cen

tury

, w

here

as in

fact

it w

as a

ver

y im

port

ant d

imen

sion

of s

even

teen

th-

and

eigh

teen

th-c

entu

ry c

once

ptio

ns o

f mad

ness

. If

Por

ter

is r

ight

, Fo

ucau

lt is

fun

dam

enta

lly w

rong

in

his

char

-ac

teri

zatio

n of

mad

ness

in

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge:

Con

fine

men

t is

not

a

prac

tice

defi

nitiv

e of

the

epo

ch's

atti

tude

tow

ard

mad

ness

, th

e

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56

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

excl

usio

n of

the

mad

is

not

an e

xpre

ssio

n of

bou

rgeo

is m

oral

ity,

and

anim

ality

is n

ot t

he e

ssen

ce o

f C

lass

ical

mad

ness

. Is

he ri

ght?

Is

Fou

caul

t's h

isto

ry b

ad?

Or a

re P

orte

r and

oth

er c

ritic

s m

isun

der-

stan

ding

Fou

caul

t's h

isto

rica

l cla

ims?

Or,

final

ly,

is F

ouca

ult u

p to

so

met

hing

oth

er th

an h

isto

ry?

As

a ba

sis

for

answ

erin

g th

ese

ques

-tio

ns, I

off

er a

fairl

y cl

ose

read

ing

of th

e se

ctio

n of

His

toir

e de

la fo

lie

(Par

t II,

Cha

pter

s 2-

5) in

whi

ch F

ouca

ult d

evel

ops

the

fund

amen

tals

of

his

acc

ount

of

mad

ness

in

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge.

Thi

s w

ill p

rovi

de

grou

nds

for

draw

ing

som

e co

nclu

sion

s ab

out t

he h

isto

rica

l val

ue o

f hi

s w

ork.

FO

UC

AU

LT

ON

CL

AS

SIC

AL

MA

DN

ES

S

For

all i

ts a

nnal

iste

s an

d st

ruct

ural

ist a

ffin

ities

, Fo

ucau

lt's

hist

ory

of m

adne

ss b

egin

s fr

om o

ne g

reat

eve

nt:

the

conf

inem

ent,

wit

hin

a fe

w y

ears

, of

a s

igni

fica

nt p

ortio

n of

the

pop

ulat

ion

of w

este

rn

Euro

pe in

spec

ial h

ouse

s of i

nter

nmen

t. Fo

ucau

lt pr

esen

ts th

is e

vent

as

an

abru

pt a

'nd m

ajor

cha

nge.

He

spea

ks o

f it

as

an "

abru

ptly

re

ache

d ..

. thr

esho

ld"

that

occ

urre

d" al

mos

t ove

rnig

ht"

(66;

MC

, 45;

se

e no

te 2

for

an

expl

anat

ion

of t

he r

efer

ence

sch

ema

used

in

this

ch

apte

r) a

nd d

escr

ibes

it

as a

"m

assi

ve p

heno

men

on"

(75;

MC

, 46

) th

at, f

or e

xam

ple,

dis

plac

ed in

just

six

yea

rs r

per

cent

of t

he p

opu-

lati

on o

f Par

is ( 5

000-

6000

peo

ple)

and

sim

ilar p

ropo

rtio

ns e

lsew

here

du

ring

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge (5

9, 6

6, n

.2; M

C,

38, 4

9).

Fouc

ault,

how

ever

, is

not i

nter

este

d in

the

even

t of c

onfi

nem

ent

for i

ts o

wn

sake

, but

in th

e at

titud

es to

war

d an

d pe

rcep

tions

of m

ad-

ness

con

nect

ed w

ith

it -w

hat

he

repe

ated

ly re

fers

to a

s "t

he C

lass

i-ca

l exp

erie

nce

of m

adne

ss."

The

eve

nt o

f con

fine

men

t is

the

sudd

en

man

ifes

tatio

n of

a lo

ng-d

evel

opin

g "s

ocia

l sen

sibi

lity"

(66)

. The

goa

l of

his

his

tory

of m

adne

ss is

to d

escr

ibe

exha

ustiv

ely

this

exp

erie

nce

or se

nsib

ility

and

to s

how

how

it p

rovi

ded

the

basi

s fo

r the

mod

ern

psyc

hiat

ric

conc

eptio

n of

mad

ness

as

men

tal i

llnes

s.

The

exp

erie

nce

Fouc

ault

is tr

acki

ng is

not

, he

mai

ntai

ns, s

impl

y an

exp

erie

nce

of m

adne

ss.

Rat

her,

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge s

aw m

adne

ss

as o

ne d

ivis

ion

of a

wid

er c

ateg

ory,

whi

ch F

ouca

ult

calls

"un

rea-

son"

(der

aiso

n). T

his

corr

espo

nds

to th

e fa

ct th

at n

ot o

nly

the

mad

, bu

t als

o a

wid

e va

riet

y of

oth

er p

eopl

e w

ere

conf

ined

. Fou

caul

t of-

fers

suc

cess

ivel

y de

eper

ana

lyse

s of

jus

t ho

w t

hose

con

fine

d w

ere

perc

eive

d.

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

57

On

the

mos

t im

med

iate

leve

l, co

nfin

emen

t was

an

econ

omic

pol

-ic

y m

eant

to d

eal w

ith

prob

lem

s of p

over

ty, p

artic

ular

ly b

eggi

ng a

nd

unem

ploy

men

t. It

was

a w

ay o

f get

ting

a la

rge

clas

s of

idle

, pot

en-

tially

dis

rupt

ive

peop

le o

ff th

e st

reet

s an

d pu

ttin

g th

em to

wor

k in

a

cont

rolle

d en

viro

nmen

t. In

pur

ely

econ

omic

term

s, h

owev

er, c

on-

fine

men

t w

as a

fai

lure

. It

hid

but

did

not

elim

inat

e po

verty

, an

d an

y ga

ins

in e

mpl

oym

ent

due

to w

ork

requ

irem

ents

on

thos

e in

-te

rned

wer

e of

fset

by

corr

espo

ndin

g lo

sses

of

empl

oym

ent o

utsi

de

the

hous

es o

f con

fine

men

t (82

). B

ut, F

ouca

ult m

aint

ains

, the

real

sign

ific

ance

of i

nter

nmen

t wen

t be

yond

this

eco

nom

ic s

urfa

ce. F

ar m

ore

than

an

unsu

cces

sful

sol

u-tio

n to

spe

cifi

c ec

onom

ic p

robl

ems,

it

repr

esen

ted

a ne

w "

ethi

cal

cons

ciou

snes

s of

wor

k, i

n w

hich

the

dif

ficu

lties

of

the

econ

omic

m

echa

nism

s lo

st th

eir

urge

ncy

in fa

vor

of a

n af

firm

atio

n of

val

ue"

(82;

MC

, 5 5

). Fo

ucau

lt ci

tes C

alvi

n an

d B

ossu

et to

sho

w th

e re

ligio

us

basi

s fo

r th

e et

hica

l cen

tral

ity o

f w

ork:

Sin

ce t

he F

all,

a re

fusa

l to

w

ork

man

ifes

ts a

n ab

surd

prid

e, w

hich

wou

ld p

resu

me

on th

e di

vine

ge

nero

sity

to p

rovi

de w

hat w

e ne

ed w

ith

no e

ffor

t of o

ur o

wn:

This

is w

hy id

lene

ss is

reb

ellio

n -

the

wor

st fo

rm o

f all,

in

a se

nse:

it w

aits

fo

r nat

ure

to b

e ge

nero

us a

s in

the

inno

cenc

e of

Ede

n, a

nd se

eks

to c

onst

rain

a

Goo

dnes

s to

whi

ch m

an c

anno

t la

y cl

aim

sin

ce A

dam

....

Lab

or i

n th

e ho

uses

of

conf

inem

ent t

hus

assu

med

its

ethi

cal m

eani

ng:

sinc

e sl

oth

had

beco

me

the

abso

lute

form

of r

ebel

lion,

the

idle

wou

ld b

e fo

rced

to w

ork,

in

the

endl

ess

leis

ure

of a

labo

r wit

hout

util

ity o

r pro

fit. (

84; M

C,

56-5

7)

On

this

sec

ond

leve

l, th

en,

thos

e co

nfin

ed (J

es d

erai

sonn

es)

wer

e no

t re

gard

ed a

s th

e ne

utra

l ob

ject

s of

unf

ortu

nate

eco

nom

ic p

ro-

cess

es,

but

as m

oral

rep

roba

tes

wor

thy

of s

ocie

ty's

cond

emna

tion

and

puni

shm

ent.

Fouc

ault

goes

on

to m

aint

ain

that

impl

icit

in th

e C

lass

ical

con

-de

mna

tion

of "

unre

as~i

ng"

beha

vior

was

a d

eep

rest

ruct

urin

g of

m

oral

cate

gorie

s. H

e co

nsid

ers t

he th

ree

maj

or cl

asse

s of t

hose

, oth

er

than

the

mad

, w

ho w

ere

inte

rned

: se

xual

off

ende

rs, t

hose

gui

lty o

f re

ligio

us p

rofa

natio

n, a

nd fr

ee-t

hink

ers

(Jes

liber

tins)

. In

ever

y ca

se,

beha

vior

that

was

pre

viou

sly

eval

uate

d in

oth

er te

rms

was

red

uced

to

a v

iola

tion

of b

ourg

eois

mor

ality

. Fo

r ex

ampl

e, t

hose

suf

ferin

g fr

om v

ener

eal

dise

ases

had

at

firs

t be

en t

reat

ed a

s m

erel

y vi

ctim

s of

an

illne

ss li

ke a

ny o

ther

(97

-ror

). B

ut w

ith

the

begi

nnin

g of

the

C

lass

ical

Age

, th

eir

affl

ictio

ns w

ere

seen

as

puni

shm

ents

for

thei

r

Page 9: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title States Code)users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/I'mnotcrazy!/foucaultmadness.pdf · 2017. 2. 20. · history of madness in the Classical Age,

58

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

sexu

al in

disc

retio

ns. A

noth

er, m

ore

inte

rest

ing,

cas

e is

the

inve

rse

fate

s of

sod

omy

and

hom

osex

uali

ty (1

02).

Prev

ious

ly,

sodo

my

had

been

vio

lent

ly c

onde

mne

d as

a re

ligio

us p

rofa

natio

n an

d ho

mos

exu-

alit

y to

lera

ted

as a

n am

orou

s eq

uivo

catio

n. W

ith

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge,

sodo

my

is tr

eate

d le

ss s

ever

ely,

bei

ng re

gard

ed a

s a

mer

e m

oral

faul

t, no

t a re

ligio

us o

ffen

se re

quir

ing

the

stak

e. C

onve

rsel

y, h

omos

exua

l-it

y is

no

long

er o

verl

ooke

d bu

t is

trea

ted

like

othe

r ser

ious

off

ense

s ag

ains

t sex

ual m

oral

ity. T

here

is a

Cla

ssic

al c

onve

rgen

ce o

f div

erse

at

titu

des

tow

ard

devi

ant b

ehav

ior t

o th

e si

ngle

leve

l of m

oral

ity.

Fouc

ault

furt

her

mai

ntai

ns -

wit

h pa

rtic

ular

ill

ustr

atio

ns f

rom

th

e C

lass

ical

att

itud

e to

war

d pr

osti

tuti

on a

nd d

ebau

cher

y -

that

the

inte

rnm

ent o

f sex

ual o

ffen

ders

was

pri

mar

ily d

esig

ned

to p

rote

ct th

e bo

urge

ois

fam

ily:

In a

sens

e, in

tern

men

t and

the

enti

re 'p

olic

e' re

gim

e th

at su

rrou

nds

it se

rves

to

ove

rsee

[con

tr6le

r] a

cer

tain

ord

er in

fam

ilial

str

uctu

re ..

.. T

he fa

mily

wit

h it

s de

man

ds b

ecom

es o

ne o

f th

e es

sent

ial r

equi

rem

ents

of r

easo

n; a

nd it

is

it t

hat

abov

e al

l de

man

ds a

nd o

btai

ns i

nter

nmen

t ...

. Thi

s pe

riod

see

s th

e gr

eat c

onfi

scat

ion

of s

exua

l eth

ics

by th

e m

oral

ity

of th

e fa

mily

. (r

n4)

Sim

ilarl

y, s

uch

thin

gs a

s bl

asph

emy,

sui

cide

, an

d m

agic

al p

rac-

tices

, pr

evio

usly

reg

arde

d as

out

rage

ous

prof

anat

ions

of

relig

ion,

ar

e re

duce

d to

off

ense

s ag

ains

t the

mon

oton

e m

oral

ity

of th

e bo

ur-

geoi

sie.

Mag

ic,

for

exam

ple,

onc

e vi

olen

tly s

uppr

esse

d as

an

obje

c-tiv

ely

pow

erfu

l ch

alle

nge

to r

elig

ion

thro

ugh

its

evoc

atio

n of

evi

l po

wer

s, n

ow is

rega

rded

as m

erel

y a p

erso

nal d

elus

ion

that

thre

aten

s th

e se

cula

r soc

ial o

rder

. In

the

sam

e w

ay, f

ree-

thin

king

(lib

ertin

age)

is

no

long

er a

per

vers

e bu

t rat

iona

l ass

ault

on re

ligio

n's

holy

trut

h.

It is

mer

ely

the

path

etic

con

sequ

ence

of a

lice

ntio

us w

ay o

f life

. Fo

ucau

lt's f

irst

fund

amen

tal t

hesi

s abo

ut C

lass

ical

mad

ness

, the

n,

is t

hat

it i

s as

sim

ilate

d to

the

bro

ader

cat

egor

y of

unr

easo

n. T

his

is a

ver

y pu

zzlin

g ca

tego

ry to

us,

sin

ce it

see

ms

to b

e tr

ying

to o

c-cu

py a

none

xist

ent m

iddl

e gr

ound

bet

wee

n fr

eely

cho

sen

crim

inal

ity

and

natu

rall

y ca

used

illn

ess.

If th

e m

ad a

nd th

eir p

artn

ers

in u

nrea

-so

n ha

ve a

cted

free

ly a

gain

st th

e so

cial

ord

er, w

hy, w

e as

k, a

re th

ey

mer

ely

conf

ined

and

not

pun

ishe

d li

ke o

ther

off

ende

rs?

If th

ey a

re

not s

uffi

cien

tly re

spon

sibl

e to

mer

it p

unis

hmen

t, w

hy a

re th

ey n

ot

trea

ted

like

the

ill,

as i

nnoc

ent v

icti

ms

of n

atur

al fo

rces

? Fo

ucau

lt ac

know

ledg

es o

ur di

ffic

ulty

in g

rasp

ing

the

conc

eptio

n, b

ut h

e ins

ists

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

59

that

this

is n

ot d

ue to

any

intr

insi

c in

cohe

renc

e, b

ut to

fund

amen

tal

disp

ariti

es b

etw

een

Cla

ssic

al a

nd m

oder

n m

odes

of e

xper

ienc

e.

Fouc

ault

does

not

, how

ever

, thi

nk w

e ca

n st

op w

ith

this

sim

ple,

if

puzz

ling,

acc

ount

of C

lass

ical

mad

ness

. In

som

e w

ays

the

mad

wer

e no

t tre

ated

like

oth

ers w

ho w

ere i

n ter

ned.

The

re w

ere

hosp

itals

(suc

h as

the

Hot

el d

e D

ieu

in P

aris

and

Bet

hlem

in L

ondo

n) w

here

spe

cial

pr

ovis

ion

was

mad

e fo

r the

med

ical

trea

tmen

t of t

he m

ad. T

rue,

suc

h pr

ovis

ion

is th

e ex

cept

ion,

and

Fou

caul

t em

phas

izes

that

the

inte

rn-

men

t of

the

mad

(ap

art f

rom

the

spe

cial

hos

pita

ls)

had

no m

edic

al

inte

ntio

n. P

hysi

cian

s w

ere

assi

gned

to

hous

es o

f in

tern

men

t on

ly

to tr

eat w

hate

ver i

llnes

ses

the

inha

bita

nts

mig

ht c

ome

dow

n w

ith,

no

t as

part

of a

pro

gram

of

med

ical

trea

tmen

t for

mad

ness

as

such

. B

ut e

ven

thou

gh th

e m

edic

al v

iew

of m

adne

ss is

the

less

pro

min

ent

(the

re w

ere

only

eig

hty

mad

men

in th

e H

otel

de

Die

u co

mpa

red

to

the

hund

reds

-pe

rhap

s eve

n 1

00

0 -

in th

e H

opit

al G

ener

al),

it c

anno

t be

igno

red:

"th

ese

two

expe

rien

ces

each

hav

e th

eir o

wn

indi

vidu

al-

ity. T

he e

xper

ienc

e of

mad

ness

as i

llnes

s, a

s re

stri

cted

as it

is, c

anno

t be

den

ied"

( I3

r ).

The

pro

blem

is t

o un

ders

tand

the

juxt

apos

ition

of

thes

e tw

o ve

ry d

iffe

rent

exp

erie

nces

. Fo

ucau

lt ve

hem

entl

y re

ject

s th

e W

higg

ish

tem

ptat

ion

to s

ee

Cla

ssic

al m

edic

al t

reat

men

t of

the

mad

as

the

firs

t st

irri

ngs

of

prog

ress

tow

ard

an e

nlig

hten

ed r

ealiz

atio

n (f

ully

blo

omin

g in

the

ni

nete

enth

cen

tury

) th

at m

adne

ss is

men

tal

illne

ss.

He

note

s th

at

in fa

ct a

med

ical

app

roac

h to

mad

ness

dev

elop

ed a

t th

e en

d of

the

M

iddl

e A

ges,

begi

nnin

g -

poss

ibly

und

er A

rab

infl

uenc

e -

in S

pain

ea

rly

in th

e fi

ftee

nth

cent

ury.

Dur

ing

this

per

iod

ther

e w

ere

incr

eas-

ing

num

bers

of i

nsti

tuti

ons (

or s

ectio

ns o

f the

m) s

peci

fica

lly re

serv

ed

for

the

mad

. Wha

t is

stri

king

abo

ut th

e C

lass

ical

Age

is it

s re

lativ

e re

gres

sion

in th

e re

cogn

ition

of

the

mad

, who

bec

ame

less

dis

tinc

t an

d m

ore

part

of

the

undi

ffer

entia

ted

mas

s of

the

inte

rned

. In

this

pr

oces

s, t

he m

ad b

ecam

, muc

h le

ss th

e ob

ject

of m

edic

al a

tten

tion

. So

me

of th

em w

ere

trea

ted

as h

ospi

tal p

atie

nts

in th

e C

lass

ical

Age

, bu

t, ac

cord

ing

to F

ouca

ult,

this

was

mai

nly

a ho

ldov

er fr

om e

arlie

r pe

riod

s. I

t is

int

ernm

ent

rath

er t

han

trea

tmen

t of

the

mad

tha

t is

ch

arac

teri

stic

ally

Cla

ssic

al. H

e su

ppor

ts h

is c

laim

by

citin

g ex

am-

ples

of i

mpo

rtan

t ins

titu

tion

s (su

ch a

s Bet

hlem

) tha

t inc

reas

ingl

y be

-ca

me

mer

e ho

uses

of c

onfi

nem

ent i

n th

e co

urse

of t

he C

lass

ical

Age

. So

Fou

caul

t by

no m

eans

cla

ims

that

med

ical

trea

tmen

t of t

he m

ad

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60

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

(and

hos

pita

ls d

esig

ned

for t

his p

urpo

se) d

id n

ot e

xist

in th

e C

lass

ical

A

ge.

He

does

not

eve

n cl

aim

tha

t th

e pe

riod

rep

rese

nts

a re

gres

-si

on in

the

med

ical

kno

wle

dge

of m

adne

ss: "

the

med

ical

text

s of

the

seve

ntee

nth

and

eigh

teen

th c

entu

ries

suf

fice

to p

rove

the

cont

rary

" (1

38).

Even

thou

gh th

e vi

ewpo

ints

of m

edic

al th

erap

y an

d of

inte

rn-

men

t are

by

no m

eans

on

a pa

r in

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge, b

oth

are

pres

ent

and

need

to b

e ac

coun

ted

for.

Thi

s sh

ows,

he

says

, how

"po

lym

or-

phic

and

var

ied

the

expe

rien

ce o

f mad

ness

cou

ld b

e in

the

epoc

h of

cl

assi

cism

" (1

47).

The

fact

rem

ains

that

the

spec

ific

ally

med

ical

aw

aren

ess

of m

ad-

ness

was

nei

ther

aut

onom

ous

nor

fund

amen

tal.

Cla

ssic

al m

adne

ss

is, a

t roo

t, re

gard

ed as

a d

isor

der o

f the

will

, lik

e ot

her f

orm

s of

unr

ea-

son.

The

re is

, acc

ordi

ngly

, "an

obs

cure

con

nect

ion

betw

een

mad

ness

an

d ev

il" t

hat p

asse

s "t

hrou

gh th

e in

divi

dual

pow

er o

f m

an th

at is

hi

s w

ill. T

hus,

mad

ness

is ro

oted

in th

e m

oral

wor

ld"

( r 5

5 ).

Even

wit

hin

the

real

m o

f unr

easo

n, h

owev

er, m

adne

ss h

as a

dis

-ti

ncti

ve s

tatu

s. F

ouca

ult t

race

s th

e sp

ecia

l sta

tus

of m

adne

ss f

rom

th

e st

riki

ng C

lass

ical

pra

ctic

e of

exh

ibiti

ng t

he m

ad t

o a

curi

ous

publ

ic.

The

sta

ndar

d ex

plic

it ju

stif

icat

ion

of c

onfi

nem

ent

duri

ng

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge w

as t

he n

eed

to a

void

sca

ndal

. U

nrea

son

is h

id-

den

away

to

prev

ent

imit

atio

n, t

o sa

fegu

ard

the

repu

tati

on o

f th

e C

hurc

h, to

pre

serv

e th

e ho

nor o

f fam

ilies

. But

mad

ness

is a

par

adox

-ic

al e

xcep

tion:

It w

as d

urin

g th

e C

lass

ical

Age

tha

t th

e pr

actic

e of

di

spla

ying

the

mad

to p

ublic

vie

w (

mos

t fam

ousl

y, a

t Bet

hlem

and

B

icet

re) w

as m

ost p

rom

inen

t. Fo

ucau

lt fi

nds

the

expl

anat

ion

of t

his

exce

ptio

n in

the

pec

ulia

r an

d es

sent

ial r

elat

ion

of m

adne

ss to

ani

mal

ity

in th

e C

lass

ical

con

-ce

ptio

n. L

ike

mos

t his

tori

ans

of th

e pe

riod

, Fou

caul

t doe

s no

t res

ist

the

tem

ptat

ion

to c

ite

som

e of

the

mor

e vi

vid

repo

rts

of h

ow t

he

Cla

ssic

al A

ge tr

eate

d th

e m

ad li

ke a

nim

als.

To

som

e ex

tent

, he

ad-

mit

s, t

his

is (

as t

he C

lass

ical

Age

wou

ld h

ave

urge

d) a

mat

ter

of

secu

rity

aga

inst

the

viol

ence

of t

he in

sane

. But

Fou

caul

t thi

nks

that

th

ere

was

a m

ore

spec

ific

and

muc

h de

eper

Cla

ssic

al m

eani

ng to

the

anim

alit

y of

mad

ness

.

The a

nim

al in

man

no lo

nger

has

any v

alue

as th

e sig

n of

a Be

yond

[ as i

t did

in,

for e

xam

ple,

the

Rena

issan

ce];

it ha

s be

com

e hi

s mad

ness

, with

out r

elat

ion

to a

nyth

ing

but i

tself:

his

mad

ness

in th

e st

ate o

f nat

ure.

The

ani

mal

ity th

at

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

6I

rage

s in

mad

ness

disp

osse

sses

man

of w

hat i

s sp

ecifi

cally

hum

an in

him

; no

t in

orde

r to

deliv

er h

im o

ver t

o ot

her p

ower

s, bu

t sim

ply

to e

stab

lish

him

at

the

zero

deg

ree

of h

is ow

n na

ture

. For

cla

ssic

ism, m

adne

ss in

its u

ltim

ate

form

is m

an in

imm

edia

te re

latio

n to

his

anim

ality

. (16

6; M

C, 7

3-74

)

The

mad

are

ani

mal

s in

the

prec

ise

sens

e th

at th

ey h

ave

tota

lly

re-

ject

ed th

eir h

uman

nat

ure

and

put t

hem

selv

es o

utsi

de th

e co

mm

u-ni

ty o

f rea

sona

ble

pers

ons.

B

ut w

hy s

houl

d th

e C

lass

ical

Age

con

side

r thi

s so

rt o

f ani

mal

ity

a le

gitim

ate

obje

ct o

f sp

ecta

cle?

Fou

caul

t thi

nks

the

answ

er li

es i

n th

e ne

w ro

le o

f mad

ness

in C

hris

tian

thou

ght.

Prev

ious

ly th

ere

was

a

reve

renc

e an

d aw

e be

fore

mad

ness

bas

ed o

n th

e id

ea th

at C

hris

tian

fa

ith, a

s a sc

anda

l to

reas

on, w

as a

glor

ifie

d fo

rm o

f mad

ness

. Wit

h th

e C

lass

ical

Age

, thi

s id

ea is

aba

ndon

ed. C

hris

tian

wis

dom

is u

nequ

ivo-

cally

on

the

side

of r

easo

n; fa

ith in

volv

es n

o sa

crif

ice

of th

e in

telle

ct.

Mad

ness

, wit

h it

s ch

oice

of a

nim

ality

, is

man

kind

's fa

rthe

st r

emov

e fr

om t

he tr

uth;

the

mad

are

thos

e w

ho h

ave

reac

hed

the

low

est h

u-m

an d

epth

s. B

ut th

is is

pre

cise

ly w

hy m

adne

ss c

an fu

ncti

on a

s th

e un

ique

sign

of t

he e

xten

t of d

ivin

e m

ercy

and

the

pow

er of

gra

ce. T

he

fact

tha

t Chr

ist,

in ta

king

on

hum

an li

fe, a

llow

ed h

imse

lf to

be

per-

ceiv

ed a

s m

ad a

nd th

at h

is g

raci

ous

solic

itude

ext

ende

d to

luna

tics

sh

ows

that

sal

vatio

n is

ava

ilabl

e ev

en to

thos

e w

ho h

ave

falle

n th

e fa

rthe

st f

rom

the

lig

ht. T

hus

the

exhi

biti

on o

f th

e m

ad s

erve

d th

e du

al s

alut

ary

purp

ose

of re

min

ding

men

how

far t

hey

mig

ht fa

ll an

d th

at G

od's

mer

cy e

xten

ded

even

this

far.

Her

e, t

hen,

we

have

the

ess

ence

of

the

Cla

ssic

al e

xper

ienc

e of

m

adne

ss,

as F

ouca

ult

expl

icat

es i

t in

Par

t I

of H

isto

ire

de l

a fo

lie.

The

re is

muc

h m

ore

to h

is st

ory.

Whe

reas

Par

t I e

xtra

cts t

he C

lass

ical

ex

peri

ence

from

the

even

t of c

onfi

nem

ent,

Part

II p

rovi

des a

com

ple-

men

tary

acc

ount

of t

he e

xper

ienc

e fr

om t

he s

tand

poin

t of C

lass

ical

m

edic

al th

eory

and

pra

cti~

, arg

uing

, how

ever

, tha

t the

two

form

s of

th

e ex

peri

ence

shar

e th

e sa

me

fund

amen

tal s

truc

ture

. 28 T

he e

ssen

ce

of th

is st

ruct

ure i

s a p

arad

oxic

al u

nity

of m

oral

gui

lt an

d an

imal

inno

-ce

nce.

To

us, t

he C

lass

ical

Age

's in

tern

ing

the

mad

alo

ng w

ith

thos

e be

long

ing

to o

ther

cat

egor

ies

of u

nrea

son

is a

con

fusi

on,

a bl

urr-

ing

of t

he d

isti

ncti

ve p

sych

olog

y of

mad

ness

. B

ut F

ouca

ult

thin

ks

that

ther

e is

the

posi

tive

stru

ctur

e of

a pe

rcep

tion,

not

the

nega

tivity

of

con

fusi

on. M

adne

ss is

und

erst

ood

by th

e C

lass

ical

Age

pre

cise

ly

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62

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

thro

ugh

its

plac

e on

the

hori

zon

of u

nrea

son.

At o

ne p

oint

, Fou

caul

t m

arks

this

pla

ce b

y a

stri

king

relig

ious

met

apho

r: "

Wha

t the

Fal

l is

to t

he d

iver

se f

orm

s of

sin

, m

adne

ss is

to t

he o

ther

face

s of

unr

ea-

son"

(176

). It

is th

e pr

inci

ple,

the

mod

el o

f all

the

othe

rs. M

ore

fully

, m

adne

ss

flow

s th

roug

h th

e en

tire

dom

ain

of u

nrea

son,

con

nect

ing

its

two

oppo

sed

bank

s: t

hat o

f mor

al c

hoic

e ..

. and

that

of a

nim

al ra

ge ..

.. M

adne

ss is

, gat

h-er

ed in

to a

sin

gle

poin

t, th

e w

hole

of u

nrea

son:

the

guilt

y da

y an

d th

e in

no-

cent

nig

ht. (

176)

Thi

s is

the

"maj

or p

arad

ox"

invo

lved

in th

e C

lass

ical

exp

erie

nce

of m

adne

ss: I

t is

equa

lly c

onne

cted

to th

e m

oral

eva

luat

ion

of e

thi-

cal f

aults

and

to th

e "m

onst

rous

inno

cenc

e" o

f ani

mal

ity. M

adne

ss is

ex

peri

ence

d as

"fo

unde

d on

an

ethi

cal c

hoic

e an

d, a

t the

sam

e tim

e,

thor

ough

ly in

clin

ed to

war

d an

imal

fury

" (1

77).

Such

an

expe

rien

ce

is fa

r rem

oved

from

(Cla

ssic

al a

nd m

oder

n) le

gal d

efin

ition

s of

mad

-ne

ss,

whi

ch s

eek

a di

visi

on o

f re

spon

sibi

lity

(fau

lt) a

nd in

noce

nce

(ext

erna

l de

term

inis

m),

and

fro

m (

Cla

ssic

al a

nd m

oder

n) m

edic

al

anal

yses

, whi

ch tr

eat m

adne

ss a

s a

natu

ral p

heno

men

on. N

onet

he-

less

, thi

s ex

peri

ence

is th

e ke

y to

und

erst

andi

ng th

e C

lass

ical

vie

w

of m

adne

ss in

bot

h th

ough

t and

pra

ctic

e.

Fouc

ault'

s ul

tim

ate

goal

in w

ritin

g hi

s hi

stor

y of

mad

ness

in th

e C

lass

ical

Age

was

to il

lum

inat

e (o

r exp

ose)

the

true

nat

ure

of m

oder

n (n

inet

eent

h ce

ntur

y to

the

pres

ent)

psy

chia

try.

He

repe

ated

ly a

sser

ts

his

view

that

the

mod

ern

conc

eptio

n of

men

tal i

llnes

s an

d th

e co

r-re

spon

ding

inst

itut

ion

of t

he a

sylu

m h

ave

been

unk

now

ingl

y co

n-st

ruct

ed o

ut o

f el

emen

ts o

f th

e C

lass

ical

exp

erie

nce

of m

adne

ss. 2

9

In p

artic

ular

, he

mai

ntai

ns t

hat

the

them

e of

inn

ocen

t an

imal

ity

beco

mes

a "

theo

ry o

f men

tal a

liena

tion

as p

atho

logi

cal m

echa

nism

of

nat

ure,

" an

d th

at, b

y m

aint

aini

ng th

e pr

actic

e of

inte

rnm

ent i

n-ve

nted

by

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge, p

sych

iatr

y ha

s pr

eser

ved

(with

out a

d-m

itti

ng it

) the

mor

al c

onst

rain

t of m

adne

ss. B

oth

"the

pos

itivi

st p

sy-

chia

try

of t

he n

inet

eent

h ce

ntur

y" a

nd t

hat

of o

ur o

wn

age

"hav

e th

ough

t tha

t the

y sp

eak

of m

adne

ss s

olel

y in

term

s of

its

path

olog

-ic

al o

bjec

tivity

; in

spi

te o

f th

emse

lves

, th

ey d

ealt

wit

h a

mad

ness

st

ill e

ntir

ely

imbu

ed w

ith

the

ethi

cs o

f unr

easo

n an

d th

e sc

anda

l of

anim

alit

y" (1

77).

The

se C

lass

ical

resi

dues

in th

e m

oder

n pe

riod

are

th

e ba

sis

of F

ouca

ult's

ana

lysi

s an

d cr

itiqu

e (in

Par

t III

of H

isto

ire

de

la fo

lie)

of m

oder

n ps

ychi

atry

.

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

63

FO

UC

AU

LT

AM

ON

G T

HE

HIS

TO

RIA

NS

. P

AR

T I

I

We

are

now

in a

pos

ition

to a

ppre

ciat

e in

a d

eepe

r way

the

diff

icul

-tie

s th

at h

isto

rian

s fi

nd in

Fou

caul

t's w

ork

on m

adne

ss, t

o se

e w

hy

Port

er, f

or e

xam

ple,

for a

ll hi

s pra

ise

of F

ouca

ult,

says

he

cam

e aw

ay

from

rea

ding

Mad

ness

and

Civ

iliza

tion

"bew

itche

d, b

othe

red,

and

be

grud

ging

."3°

The

cen

tral

issu

e of

con

fine

men

t is

a go

od s

tart

ing

poin

t. Po

rter,

as w

e ha

ve se

en, h

as se

riou

s obj

ectio

ns to

the

exis

tenc

e of

any

"gr

eat c

onfi

nem

ent,"

at l

east

in E

ngla

nd,

duri

ng th

e C

lass

i-ca

l Age

. Mos

t of t

he m

ad s

impl

y w

eren

't co

n£ in

ed. T

hose

who

wer

e,

cont

rary

to F

ouca

ult,

wer

e ca

refu

lly s

epar

ated

from

oth

er d

evia

nts.

H

ow s

houl

d Fo

ucau

lt re

spon

d? H

e ha

s no

hop

e of

ref

utin

g Po

rter

on

the

leve

l of t

he e

mpi

rica

l fac

ts. P

orte

r's c

laim

, inc

orpo

ratin

g nu

-m

erou

s ca

refu

l st

udie

s do

ne s

ince

Fou

caul

t's b

ook,

has

a d

ecis

ive

adva

ntag

e he

re. F

ouca

ult m

ight

try

a ta

ctic

al re

trea

t: Po

rter

is r

ight

fo

r Eng

land

, but

Fra

nce,

in w

hich

Fou

caul

t is m

ainl

y in

tere

sted

, is (

as

even

Por

ter

seem

s to

adm

it)31

a di

ffer

ent s

tory

. Pe

rhap

s, t

hen,

con

-fi

nem

ent

is a

Fre

nch

-or

eve

n a

cont

inen

tal -

phen

omen

on,

wit

h th

e En

glis

h, a

s so

oft

en, f

ollo

win

g a

diff

eren

t dru

mm

er. B

ut s

uch

a re

trea

t put

s Fo

ucau

lt in

to a

n im

poss

ible

pos

ition

, sin

ce h

e pu

rpor

ts

to b

e de

scri

bing

not

the

pra

ctic

es a

nd b

elie

fs o

f in

divi

dual

s, w

hich

m

ight

wel

l di

ffer

fro

m c

ount

ry to

cou

ntry

, but

the

exp

erie

nce

of a

cu

lture

. He

is i

nter

este

d in

the

fund

amen

tal

cate

gori

es in

ter

ms

of

whi

ch p

eopl

e pe

rcei

ve,

thin

k, a

nd a

ct,

not

the

spec

ific

sen

satio

ns,

belie

fs, a

nd a

ctio

ns fa

lling

und

er th

ese

cate

gori

es. T

o al

low

that

the

Engl

ish

expe

rien

ce o

f m

adne

ss w

as i

nfor

med

by

a di

ffer

ent

set

of

fund

amen

tal

cate

gori

es w

ould

req

uire

vie

win

g En

glis

h an

d Fr

ench

(o

r con

tinen

tal)

cul

ture

as

radi

cally

dif

fere

nt to

an

exte

nt th

at s

eem

s in

defe

nsib

le -

and

is c

erta

inly

nev

er d

efen

ded

by F

ouca

ult.

But

per

haps

Fou

caul

t's c

once

rn w

ith

fund

amen

tal

expe

rien

tial

cate

gori

es ra

ther

than

wit

h sp

ecif

ic p

erce

ptio

ns, b

elie

fs, a

nd a

ctio

ns

is it

self

the

key

to a

resp

onse

to P

orte

r. Fo

r, af

ter a

ll, P

orte

r's c

ritiq

ue

is b

ased

on

just

the

sort

of

spec

ific

bel

iefs

and

act

ions

tha

t ar

e no

t Fo

ucau

lt's p

rim

ary

conc

ern.

Fou

caul

t is n

ot m

akin

g em

piri

cal g

ener

-al

izat

ions

abo

ut w

hat p

eopl

e in

var

ious

cou

ntri

es th

ough

t or d

id; h

e is

tryi

ng to

con

stru

ct th

e ca

tego

rica

l sys

tem

that

lay

behi

nd w

hat w

as

no d

oubt

a v

ery

dive

rse

rang

e of

bel

iefs

and

pra

ctic

es. C

onfi

nem

ent,

then

, is a

fact

, per

haps

mos

t str

ikin

g in

Fra

nce,

but

, as P

orte

r adm

its,

also

pre

sent

in E

ngla

nd a

nd th

e re

st o

f Eur

ope.

Fou

caul

t is c

once

rned

Page 12: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title States Code)users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/I'mnotcrazy!/foucaultmadness.pdf · 2017. 2. 20. · history of madness in the Classical Age,

64

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

wit

h th

e ca

tego

rica

l con

ditio

ns o

f pos

sibi

lity

for t

his

fact

. He

wan

ts

to k

now

wha

t in

the

way

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge e

xper

ienc

ed m

adne

ss

mad

e th

e so

rt o

f con

fine

men

t it p

ract

iced

pos

sibl

e. O

f cou

rse

ther

e w

ere,

as

Fouc

ault

adm

its a

nd e

ven

emph

asiz

es, o

ther

dim

ensi

ons

of

Cla

ssic

al p

ract

ice,

mos

t not

ably

med

ical

ther

apy,

tha

t inv

olve

d in

-te

grat

ion

rath

er th

an is

olat

ion

of th

e m

ad fr

om t

he c

omm

unity

. In

som

e ca

ses

this

may

hav

e m

eant

tha

t, as

Por

ter

find

s fo

r En

glan

d,

the

prog

ress

of c

onfi

nem

ent w

as s

low

and

pie

cem

eal.

But

suc

h em

-pi

rica

l di

verg

ence

s do

not

ref

ute

Fouc

ault'

s ca

tego

rica

l an

alys

is o

f th

e C

lass

ical

exp

erie

nce

of m

adne

ss.

I thi

nk th

e ab

ove

is a

pro

perl

y Fo

ucau

ltian

resp

onse

to P

orte

r. B

ut

I als

o th

ink

that

acce

ptin

g it

alte

rs th

e te

rms o

f Fou

caul

t's c

onfr

onta

-ti

on w

ith

hist

oric

al c

ritic

ism

. The

cru

x is

this

: Giv

en th

at F

ouca

ult's

ca

tego

rica

l ana

lysi

s is

not r

efut

ed b

y th

e em

piri

cal d

evia

tions

Por

ter

poin

ts o

ut,

just

wha

t wou

ld re

fute

the

anal

ysis

and

, eve

n m

ore

im-

port

ant,

wha

t wou

ld s

uppo

rt it

? H

ere

ther

e is

a c

ruci

al,

thou

gh e

asily

unn

otic

ed,

diff

eren

ce b

e-tw

een

Fouc

ault

and

stan

dard

his

tori

ans

like

Port

er.

At

the

outs

et

of h

is s

tudy

of

mad

ness

in

the

long

eig

htee

nth

cent

ury,

Por

ter f

or-

mul

ates

his

pro

ject

in

a w

ay t

hat

seem

s en

tirel

y co

ngru

ous

wit

h Fo

ucau

lt's

hist

ory

of m

adne

ss. H

e sa

ys th

at h

e is

"at

tem

ptin

g pr

in-

cipa

lly to

rec

over

the

inte

rnal

coh

eren

ce o

f no

w u

nfam

iliar

bel

iefs

ab

out t

he m

ind

and

mad

ness

, and

to s

et th

em in

thei

r wid

er fr

ames

of

mea

ning

."32

Furt

her,

like

Fouc

ault'

s bo

ok, P

orte

r's is

fill

ed w

ith

fact

s: n

ames

, dat

es, a

necd

otes

, and

quo

tatio

ns fr

om p

rim

ary

sour

ces.

N

onet

hele

ss,

the

book

s ar

e po

les

apar

t, an

d th

e di

ffer

ence

is in

the

way

fact

ual d

etai

ls a

re re

late

d to

the

over

all p

roje

ct o

f und

erst

andi

ng

how

mad

ness

was

per

ceiv

ed a

nd tr

eate

d fr

om 1

650

to 1

800.

O

n on

e le

vel,

the

diff

eren

ce is

that

for P

orte

r the

fact

s ar

e pr

imar

-ily

supp

orts

for t

he in

terp

reta

tive

sche

ma,

whe

reas

for F

ouca

ult t

hey

are

prim

arily

illu

stra

tions

of

it. T

he o

peni

ng o

f Fo

ucau

lt's

chap

ter

on c

onfi

nem

ent i

s a

good

exa

mpl

e. H

e be

gins

(57-

58) w

ith

an a

naly

-si

s of

Des

cart

es's

reje

ctio

n of

mad

ness

as

grou

nds

for

philo

soph

ical

do

ubt,

from

whi

ch h

e ex

trac

ts h

is b

asic

idea

of

a C

lass

ical

exc

lu-

sion

of m

adne

ss fr

om th

e re

alm

of h

uman

exi

sten

ce. S

urel

y he

doe

s no

t re

gard

a s

ingl

e pa

ssag

e fr

om o

ne a

utho

r as

pro

of o

f an

epo

ch's

conc

eptio

n of

mad

ness

; th

e pa

ssag

e fr

om D

esca

rtes

can

onl

y be

an

illus

trat

ion

of h

is a

sser

tion.

He

then

dis

cuss

es c

onfi

nem

ent a

s a p

rac-

tical

exp

ress

ion

of th

is e

xclu

sion

. The

dev

elop

men

t of c

onfi

nem

ent

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

65

is d

iscu

ssed

in

som

e de

tail

for

Fran

ce (

59-6

4),

but

only

tw

o br

ief

para

grap

hs, o

ne o

n En

glan

d an

d th

e ot

her o

n th

e re

st o

f Eur

ope,

are

de

emed

eno

ugh

to s

how

tha

t co

nfin

emen

t ha

d "E

urop

ean

dim

en-

sion

s" (

64;

MC

, 43

). N

eith

er p

arag

raph

off

ers

muc

h be

yond

a l

ist

of h

ouse

s of

con

fine

men

t and

the

date

s of

thei

r fou

ndin

g. F

ouca

ult

says

not

hing

abo

ut o

ther

way

s of

trea

ting

the

mad

(alth

ough

, as

we

have

seen

, he l

ater

pays

cons

ider

able

att

enti

on to

med

ical

trea

tmen

t).

Mos

t im

port

ant,

he n

ever

(her

e or

els

ewhe

re) d

iscu

sses

the

exte

nt o

f co

nfin

emen

t rel

ativ

e to

oth

er p

ract

ices

and

pro

vide

s no

dat

a es

tab-

lishi

ng h

is v

iew

tha

t co

nfin

emen

t is

the

typi

cal C

lass

ical

rea

ctio

n to

mad

ness

. Po

rter

, as

we

have

see

n, h

as s

ubst

antia

l evi

denc

e th

at

conf

inem

ent

was

rel

ativ

ely

unco

mm

on i

n En

glan

d an

d, g

iven

the

st

rong

infl

uenc

e of

the

Lock

ean

conc

eptio

n of

mad

ness

, was

by

no

mea

ns th

e di

stin

ctiv

ely

Cla

ssic

al w

ay o

f dea

ling

wit

h it.

Fo

ucau

lt's

proc

edur

e is

sim

ilar

thro

ugho

ut t

he b

ook.

His

cla

im

that

a re

ligio

us v

iew

abou

t the

role

of w

ork

in o

ur po

stla

psar

ian w

orld

un

derl

ies t

he C

lass

ical

mor

al c

onde

mna

tion

of m

adne

ss is

supp

orte

d by

bri

ef c

itatio

ns fr

om C

alvi

n, B

ossu

et, a

nd B

ourd

alou

e (8

3-84

). H

e ba

ses

his

clai

m th

at th

ere

was

a "

grea

t con

fisc

atio

n of

sex

ual e

thic

s by

the

mor

ality

of

the

fam

ily"

(ro4

) on

two

case

s of

inte

rnm

ent,

a fe

w q

uota

tions

from

Mol

iere

, and

two

cita

tions

from

Cla

ssic

al le

gal

docu

men

ts (r

o4-r

o5).

His

"pr

oof"

(138

) th

at c

onfi

nem

ent e

xpre

ssed

th

e fu

ndam

enta

l Cla

ssic

al e

xper

ienc

e of

mad

ness

and

that

med

ical

tr

eatm

ent w

as a

mar

gina

l hol

dove

r of p

revi

ous

prac

tices

is th

at, a

f-te

r Bet

hlem

was

ope

ned

to th

e no

n-m

ad, t

here

was

soo

n no

not

able

di

ffer

ence

bet

wee

n it

and

the

Fren

ch h

opit

aux g

ener

aux,

and

that

St.

Luke

's in

clud

ed b

oth

the

mad

and

the

non-

mad

from

its f

ound

ing

in

I7 5 r

. With

rega

rd t

o hi

s st

riki

ng c

laim

that

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge s

aw

unre

ason

as

the

resu

lt of

a v

olun

tary

cho

ice,

he

adm

its t

hat

"thi

s aw

aren

ess

is o

bvio

usly

not

exp

ress

ed in

an

expl

icit

man

ner

in th

e pr

actic

es o

f int

ernm

ent o

r in

thei

r jus

tific

atio

ns"

( 15 6

). B

ut h

e m

ain-

tain

s th

at s

uch

a ch

oice

can

be

infe

rred

from

Des

cart

es's

rem

arks

on

mad

ness

and

that

the

poin

t is e

ntir

ely

expl

icit

in S

pino

za ( 1

5 6-1

58 ).

Fouc

ault'

s pen

chan

t for

usi

ng fa

cts

as il

lust

ratio

n ra

ther

than

sup-

port

doe

s no

t m

ean

that

, as

Mid

elfo

rt s

ugge

sts,

he

is "

sim

ply

in-

dulg

(ing]

in

a w

him

for

arb

itrar

y an

d w

itty

ass

ertio

n."

It is

rat

her

a si

gn o

f wha

t I w

ill c

all h

is id

ealis

t (as

opp

osed

to e

mpi

rici

st)

ap-

proa

ch to

his

tory

. A

cha

ract

eriz

atio

n of

Fou

caul

t's h

isto

ry o

f m

ad-

ness

as

idea

list i

s ap

t for

a v

arie

ty o

f re

ason

s. I

t is

prim

arily

not

a

Page 13: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title States Code)users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/I'mnotcrazy!/foucaultmadness.pdf · 2017. 2. 20. · history of madness in the Classical Age,

66

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

hist

ory

of e

vent

s or

ins

titu

tion

s bu

t of

an

expe

rien

ce,

the

expe

ri-en

ce o

f m

adne

ss.

Als

o, t

his

expe

rien

ce is

not

und

erst

ood

in te

rms

of t

he p

erce

ptio

ns o

r th

ough

ts o

f in

divi

dual

s; r

athe

r, it

s su

bjec

t is

the

anon

ymou

s co

nsci

ousn

ess

of a

n ag

e. (

Fouc

ault

late

r cr

itici

zed

His

toir

e de

la f

olie

bec

ause

it "

acco

rded

far

too

grea

t a p

lace

, and

a

very

eni

gmat

ic o

ne to

o, t

o w

hat I

cal

led

an 'e

xper

ienc

e,' t

hus

show

-in

g to

wha

t ext

ent o

ne w

as st

ill c

lose

to a

dmit

ting

an a

nony

mou

s and

ge

nera

l sub

ject

of h

isto

ry. "

33) Fu

rthe

r, Fo

ucau

lt's h

isto

ry ex

hibi

ts th

e te

nse

Heg

elia

n co

mbi

natio

n of

ana

rchi

c an

d to

talit

aria

n te

nden

cies

: a

fasc

inat

ion

wit

h co

nflic

ting

com

plex

ities

(so

tha

t ev

ery

thou

ght

is a

lmos

t lim

itles

sly

qual

ifie

d an

d co

mpl

emen

ted)

, al

ong

wit

h an

ul

tim

atel

y tr

ium

phan

t co

mpu

lsio

n fo

r un

ity

(so t

hat

all

the

com

-pl

exity

is re

lent

less

ly o

rgan

ized

). Fi

nally

, in

typi

cal i

deal

ist f

ashi

on,

the

oper

ativ

e ju

stif

icat

ion

of F

ouca

ult's

his

tori

cal c

onst

ruct

ion

is it

s in

terp

reta

tive

cohe

renc

e ra

ther

tha

n it

s co

rres

pond

ence

wit

h in

de-

pend

entl

y gi

ven

exte

rnal

dat

a.

Thi

s id

ealis

tic c

ast

mak

es p

rofe

ssio

nal

hist

oria

ns v

ery

unea

sy

wit

h Fo

ucau

lt's

wor

k. T

hey

thin

k th

at,

in h

is i

nsis

tenc

e on

a s

in-

gle

unif

ied

inte

rpre

tatio

n, F

ouca

ult

igno

res

the

mes

sy l

oose

end

s th

at c

lose

em

piri

cal s

crut

iny

seem

s to

fin

d ev

eryw

here

in h

isto

ry.

Dav

id R

othm

an,

for

exam

ple,

com

plai

ns t

hat

"for

all

the

swee

p of

the

ana

lysi

s, t

he c

ateg

orie

s se

em r

igid

(ar

e re

ason

and

unr

easo

n m

utua

lly

excl

usiv

e?),

and

ther

e re

mai

ns t

oo l

ittl

e ro

om f

or o

ther

co

nsid

erat

ions

." H

e go

es o

n to

rem

ark

that

Fou

caul

t's "

expl

ana-

tion

is

so c

augh

t up

wit

h id

eas

that

the

ir b

ase

in e

vent

s is

pra

c-tic

ally

for

gotte

n."3

4 Li

kew

ise,

Ian

Dow

bigg

in,

alth

ough

ack

now

l-ed

ging

the

debt

of

his

acco

unt o

f ni

nete

enth

-cen

tury

psy

chia

try

to

Fouc

ault,

rem

arks

tha

t "t

here

is

a se

amle

ss q

ualit

y to

Fou

caul

t's

mod

el th

at ..

. fits

his

tori

cal r

ealit

y po

orly

. "35

A

s an

idea

list h

isto

rian

, Fo

ucau

lt co

uld

wel

l re

spon

d th

at h

e is

no

t aft

er a

n ac

coun

t ger

rym

ande

red

to fi

t eve

ry re

calc

itran

t fac

t, an

im

poss

ible

pro

ject

in a

ny c

ase.

Wha

t he

wan

ts is

a c

ompr

ehen

sive

, un

ifyi

ng in

terp

reta

tion

that

will

giv

e in

telli

gibl

e or

der

to a

n ot

her-

wis

e m

eani

ngle

ss j

umbl

e of

ind

ivid

ual h

isto

rica

l tr

uths

. T

he f

acts

ar

e no

t irr

elev

ant f

or F

ouca

ult,

but t

he p

rim

ary

supp

ort f

or h

is p

osi-

tion

is n

ot it

s dem

onst

rabl

e co

rres

pond

ence

wit

h th

em b

ut it

s log

ical

an

d im

agin

ativ

e po

wer

to o

rgan

ize

them

into

inte

lligi

ble

conf

igur

a-tio

ns.

The

ide

a th

at t

he C

lass

ical

Age

was

one

of

conf

inem

ent

is

an i

mm

ense

ly p

ower

ful

inst

rum

ent

for

conn

ectin

g th

emes

in

the

theo

logy

, lit

erat

ure,

phi

loso

phy,

and

med

icin

e of

the

Cla

ssic

al A

ge

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

67

wit

h on

e an

othe

r an

d w

ith

the

age's

pol

itica

l, re

ligio

us, s

ocia

l, an

d ec

onom

ic p

ract

ices

. Onc

e we

begi

n to

thin

k in

term

s of

con

fine

men

t as

a fu

ndam

enta

l cat

egor

y, w

e ar

e, a

s Fou

caul

t sho

ws,

abl

e to

dev

elop

an

ext

ensi

ve a

nd s

ubtle

int

erpr

etat

ive

fram

ewor

k th

at b

oth

rais

es

prov

ocat

ive

ques

tions

and

giv

es th

em in

trig

uing

ans

wer

s. O

ther

in-

terp

reta

tions

may

"fi

t" t

he f

acts

as

wel

l or

bet

ter

than

Fou

caul

t's,

but

his

prov

ides

a p

ersp

ectiv

e w

ith

dist

inct

ive

adva

ntag

es i

n un

i-fy

ing

pow

er a

nd in

tell

ectu

al fr

uitf

ulne

ss.

From

this

sta

ndpo

int,

al-

thou

gh th

e fa

cts

that

illu

stra

te F

ouca

ult's

cla

ims a

bout

con

fine

men

t ar

e no

t de

cisi

ve e

mpi

rica

l evi

denc

e, t

hey

are

com

pelli

ng e

xam

ples

of

the

pow

er o

f his

inte

rpre

tativ

e fr

amew

ork.

To

dis

tingu

ish

betw

een

idea

list

and

empi

rici

st h

isto

ry i

s, of

co

urse

, on

ly t

o sp

ecif

y th

e op

posi

te e

nds

of a

con

tinu

um.

No

sys-

tem

of i

nter

pret

atio

n ca

n ha

ve h

isto

rica

l sig

nifi

canc

e if

it is

not

sup-

port

ed by

som

e sig

nifi

cant

bod

y of

cor

resp

ondi

ng fa

cts,

and

no

fact

ual

data

can

be

form

ulat

ed in

depe

nden

t of s

ome

prio

r int

erpr

etat

ive

sys-

tem

. Con

sequ

ently

, eve

n th

ough

mos

t sta

ndar

d hi

stor

ical

pra

ctic

e is

no

wad

ays

muc

h cl

oser

to th

e em

piri

cal e

nd o

f the

con

tinu

um th

an

Fouc

ault'

s, m

y ch

arac

teri

zatio

n of

his

wor

k as

idea

list d

oes n

ot m

ean

that

it is

, as

Gol

dste

in a

nd M

egill

sug

gest

, out

side

the

disc

iplin

e of

hi

stor

y. E

very

his

tori

cal s

tudy

mus

t bal

ance

idea

list i

nter

pret

atio

n w

ith

empi

rici

st f

act-

gath

erin

g, a

nd F

ouca

ult's

wor

k do

es n

ot c

ease

to

be

hist

ory

beca

use

it is

at

the

curr

ently

less

-fav

ored

end

of

the

cont

inuu

m.

Mor

eove

r, th

e re

ason

s G

olds

tein

and

Meg

ill o

ffer

for

thi

nkin

g Fo

ucau

lt is

not

an

hist

oria

n se

em u

nper

suas

ive.

Gol

dste

in sa

ys th

at

Fouc

ault

is u

nhis

tori

cal b

ecau

se "

he q

uest

ione

d th

e ne

cess

ary

con-

tinu

ity

of h

isto

ry."

36 T

he is

sue,

how

ever

, is

whe

ther

the

cont

inui

ty

Gol

dste

in h

as i

n m

ind

is e

ssen

tial f

or h

isto

ry a

s su

ch o

r is

just

the

defi

ning

cha

ract

eris

tic o

f on

e so

rt o

f hi

stor

y. F

ouca

ult

him

self

, in

re

spon

ding

to S

artr

ean

clai

ms

that

his

app

roac

h el

imin

ates

his

tory

, in

sist

ed th

at h

e el

imin

ated

onl

y th

at h

isto

ry fo

r w

hich

"th

ere

is a

n ab

solu

te s

ubje

ct o

f hi

stor

y, ..

. who

ass

ures

its

con

tinui

ty."

37 T

hat

such

an

elim

inat

ion

is c

onsi

sten

t wit

h th

e hi

stor

ical

nat

ure

of F

ou-

caul

t's e

nter

pris

e is

sup

port

ed b

y th

e fa

ct th

at h

is a

ppro

ach

rem

ains

fi

rmly

roo

ted

in t

he c

entr

al h

isto

rica

l ca

tego

ry o

f th

e ev

ent.3

8 It

is

also

rel

evan

t to

rec

all

that

, w

hate

ver

the

role

of

disc

ontin

uity

be-

twee

n hi

stor

ical

per

iods

in h

is su

bseq

uent

wor

ks, H

isto

ire

de la

folie

fr

eque

ntly

insi

sts

on im

port

ant c

onti

nuit

ies

betw

een

Cla

ssic

al a

nd

mod

ern

conc

eptio

ns o

f mad

ness

(see

the

pass

ages

cite

d in

not

e 29

).39

Page 14: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title States Code)users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/I'mnotcrazy!/foucaultmadness.pdf · 2017. 2. 20. · history of madness in the Classical Age,

68

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

Meg

ill a

rgue

s th

at H

isto

ire

de la

folie

lies

out

side

of h

isto

ry (a

nd

of a

ll ac

adem

ic d

isci

plin

es)

beca

use

it i

s am

bigu

ous

in a

way

ap-

prop

riat

e to

lite

ratu

re, r

athe

r tha

n an

aca

dem

ic d

isci

plin

e: "

ther

e is

so

met

hing

cent

ral t

o th

e di

scip

linar

y pr

ojec

t tha

t see

ms

thw

arte

d in

Fo

ucau

lt. It

is a

s if,

thro

ugh

his

love

of a

mbi

guity

, he

has

thro

wn

a m

onke

y w

renc

h in

to th

e di

scip

linar

y m

achi

nery

."4°

I ag

ree

that

the

antid

isci

plin

ary

rhet

oric

of

ambi

guity

Meg

ill e

mph

asiz

es is

an

im-

port

ant e

lem

ent i

n H

isto

ire

de la

folie

. But

this

sho

ws

only

that

it is

no

t exc

lusi

vely

a hi

stor

ical

ana

lysi

s. W

hat b

asis

is th

ere

for t

hink

ing

that

, for

exa

mpl

e, F

ouca

ult's

ela

bora

te in

terp

reta

tion

of th

e C

lass

ical

ex

peri

ence

of m

adne

ss, s

ketc

hed

in th

e m

iddl

e se

ctio

n of

this

ess

ay,

is n

ot a

n hi

stor

ical

acc

ount

, ev

alua

ble

by t

he d

isci

plin

ary

cano

ns

of h

isto

ry?

It m

ay w

ell b

e th

at,

even

if s

uch

eval

uatio

n re

sulte

d in

th

e to

tal r

ejec

tion

of t

he a

ccou

nt a

s ac

cura

te h

isto

ry,

ther

e w

ould

st

ill b

e lit

erar

y (a

nd,

perh

aps,

som

e so

rt o

f phi

loso

phic

al)

mer

it i

n w

hat F

ouca

ult w

rote

. But

the

fact

rem

ains

that

, wha

teve

r els

e m

ay

be g

oing

on,

His

toir

e de

la fo

lie d

oes

offe

r a v

ery

deta

iled

hist

ory

of

mad

ness

in th

e C

lass

ical

Age

. My

own

view

is th

at th

e bo

ok s

how

s an

ant

ihis

tori

cal c

hara

cter

pri

mar

ily in

Fou

caul

t's i

nter

mit

tent

ef-

fort

s to

evo

ke m

adne

ss a

s it

is e

xper

ienc

ed b

y th

e m

ad th

emse

lves

. T

his

expe

rien

ce h

e te

nds

to p

rese

nt a

s an

abs

olut

e tr

ansc

endi

ng th

e hi

stor

y of

cha

ngin

g so

cial

con

stru

ctio

ns o

f mad

ness

. (Th

e th

eme

is

mos

t app

aren

t in

the

Pref

ace t

o th

e fir

st e

ditio

n, w

hich

Fou

caul

t lat

er

drop

ped.

) Con

trar

y to

Meg

ill, I

thin

k th

is th

eme

is c

lear

ly o

utsi

de th

e m

ain

thru

st o

f the

boo

k.41

W

hat,

then

, sho

uld

we

conc

lude

abo

ut w

hat w

e m

ight

now

, not

en

tirel

y fa

cetio

usly

, des

crib

e as

Fou

caul

t's D

ie P

hdno

men

olog

ie d

es

kran

ken

Gei

stes

/42

Gra

nted

, as

I h

ave

just

bee

n ar

guin

g, t

hat

it is

hi

stor

y, is

it g

ood

or b

ad h

isto

ry?

The

eas

y an

swer

is th

at it

is g

ood

idea

list h

isto

ry b

ut b

ad em

piri

cist

hist

ory.

Tha

t, ho

wev

er, i

s too

easy

, si

nce

a sc

hem

a of

his

tori

cal

inte

rpre

tatio

n m

ay b

e so

em

piri

cally

de

fici

ent t

hat e

ven

its m

ost i

ngen

ious

and

exc

iting

spe

cula

tions

are

no

t w

orth

pur

suin

g. (

In t

he s

ame

way

, an

em

piri

cally

im

pecc

able

ac

coun

t may

be

so d

evoi

d of

int

erpr

etat

ive

inte

rest

as

to b

e ha

rdly

w

orth

an

hist

oria

n's

yaw

n.)

This

, I th

ink,

is a

s fa

r as

philo

soph

ical

kib

itzin

g ca

n ta

ke th

e di

s-cu

ssio

n of

Fou

caul

t's h

isto

ry o

f m

adne

ss.

I ha

ve a

rgue

d th

at t

here

is

no

good

rea

son

to p

lace

His

toir

e de

la f

olie

ent

irel

y ou

tsid

e th

e do

mai

n of

his

tory

, im

mun

e to

the

cri

tical

nor

ms

of h

isto

riog

ra-

phy.

I h

ave

also

mai

ntai

ned

that

nei

ther

of t

he tw

o m

ost i

mpo

rtan

t

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

69

hist

oric

al c

ritiq

ues

of F

ouca

ult s

how

s th

at h

is w

ork

is b

ad h

isto

ry.

Mid

elfo

rt's

appa

rent

ly d

ecis

ive

criti

cism

s ar

e m

ostly

bas

ed o

n m

is-

unde

rsta

ndin

gs o

f Fo

ucau

lt's

view

s. P

orte

r's c

ritiq

ue o

f Fo

ucau

lt's

cent

ral

view

s on

con

fine

men

t ra

ises

an

impo

rtan

t em

piri

cal

chal

-le

nge,

but

doe

s no

t, in

itse

lf, u

nder

min

e th

e in

terp

reta

tive

pow

er o

f Fo

ucau

lt's

idea

list h

isto

ry.

So f

ar t

here

hav

e be

en n

o de

cisi

ve t

ests

of

the

frui

tful

ness

of F

ouca

ult's

com

plex

inte

rpre

tativ

e fr

amew

ork.

W

hat i

s st

ill n

eede

d, i

t se

ems

to m

e, i

s an

ass

essm

ent o

f his

ove

r-al

l pi

ctur

e of

Cla

ssic

al m

adne

ss t

hrou

gh d

etai

led

depl

oym

ents

of

its

spec

ific

inte

rpre

tativ

e ca

tego

ries.

Is,

for

exam

ple,

Jan

Gol

dste

in

righ

t in

her s

ugge

stio

n th

at h

isto

rian

s of

the

Enlig

hten

men

t sho

uld

pay

mor

e at

tent

ion

to F

ouca

ult's

idea

of

a te

nsio

n in

the

Cla

ssic

al

expe

rien

ce o

f mad

ness

bet

wee

n m

an as

a ju

ridi

cal s

ubje

ct a

nd m

an as

a

soci

al b

eing

?43

How

muc

h ex

plan

ator

y po

wer

is th

ere

in F

ouca

ult's

cl

aim

that

Cla

ssic

al c

onfi

nem

ent i

nvol

ved

a re

duct

ion

of a

ll se

xual

of

fens

es t

o th

e no

rms

of b

ourg

eois

mor

ality

? W

hat l

evel

of u

nder

-st

andi

ng c

an w

e re

ach

by d

evel

opin

g hi

s ac

coun

t of

the

rel

igio

us

sign

ific

ance

of

Cla

ssic

al m

adne

ss?

To w

hat e

xten

t is

the

natu

re o

f ni

nete

enth

-cen

tury

psy

chia

try

illu

min

ated

by

thin

king

of i

t as

con-

stru

cted

from

the p

olar

Cla

ssic

al co

ncep

tions

of m

adne

ss as

inno

cent

an

imal

ity a

nd a

s m

oral

faul

t? T

he is

sue

of F

ouca

ult's

sta

tus

as a

his

-to

rian

of

mad

ness

sho

uld

rem

ain

open

unt

il h

isto

rian

s ha

ve p

osed

an

d an

swer

ed q

uest

ions

suc

h as

thes

e.

NO

TE

S

1 M

iche

l Fou

caul

t, C

omm

ent a

t the

Uni

vers

ity o

f Ver

mon

t, O

ctob

er 2

7,

1982

. Cite

d by

Alla

n M

egill

, "T

he R

ecep

tion

of F

ouca

ult b

y H

isto

rian

s,"

four

nal o

f the

His

tory

of I

deas

48

(198

7):

117.

2

Titl

e of

sec

ond

editi

on, p

ublis

hed

in P

aris

(G

allim

ard,

197

2), t

o w

hich

al

l re

fere

nces

will

be

give

n in

par

enth

eses

in

the

mai

n te

st.

The

En

glis

h tr

ansl

atio

n, M

adne

ss a

nd C

ivili

zatio

n, t

rans

. Ric

hard

How

ard

(New

Yor

k: P

anth

eon,

196

5),

is o

f a

dras

tical

ly a

brid

ged

Fren

ch e

di-

tion.

Cit

ed p

assa

ges

that

app

ear

in M

adne

ss a

nd C

ivili

zatio

n (M

C)

will

be

give

n in

How

ard'

s ve

rsio

n, o

ther

pas

sage

s in

my

own

tran

sla-

tion.

For

mor

e de

tails

on

vari

ous F

renc

h ed

ition

s of

His

toir

e de

la fo

lie,

see

Gar

y G

uttin

g, M

iche

l Fou

caul

t's A

rcha

eolo

gy o

f Sci

entif

ic R

easo

n (C

ambr

idge

: Cam

brid

ge U

nive

rsity

Pre

ss, 1

989)

, 70,

n. 6

. Col

in G

ordo

n ha

s ri

ghtly

em

phas

ized

the

need

to c

onsu

lt th

e fu

ll Fr

ench

text

; see

his

"H

isto

ire d

e la

folie

: An

Unk

now

n B

ook b

y M

iche

l Fou

caul

t," H

isto

ry o

f th

e H

uman

Sci

ence

s 3

(199

0):

3-26

. Als

o se

e th

e re

spon

ses

to G

ordo

n's

Page 15: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title States Code)users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/I'mnotcrazy!/foucaultmadness.pdf · 2017. 2. 20. · history of madness in the Classical Age,

70

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

artic

le b

y a

vari

ety

of w

rite

rs (a

mon

g ot

hers

, Rob

ert C

aste

l, R

oy P

orte

r, A

ndre

w S

cull,

H. C

. Eric

Mid

elfo

rt, J

an G

olds

tein

, Dom

inic

k La

Cap

ra,

and

Alla

n M

egill

) an

d G

ordo

n's

repl

y, "

His

tory

, M

adne

ss a

nd O

ther

Er

rors

: A R

espo

nse,

" in

the

sam

e vo

lum

e.

3 T

his

essa

y w

ill f

ocus

on

His

toir

e de

la

folie

, w

hich

is

Fouc

ault'

s on

ly f

ull-s

cale

dis

cuss

ion

of m

adne

ss a

nd,

so f

ar,

the

wor

k of

his

m

ost

infl

uent

ial

on h

isto

rian

s of

psy

chia

try.

Men

tion

sho

uld

also

be

mad

e of

his

ear

lier,

mai

nly

nonh

isto

rica

l, di

scus

sion

s, M

alad

ie m

en-

tale

et p

erso

nnal

ite (P

aris:

Pre

sses

Uni

vers

itair

es d

e Fr

ance

, 19

54)

and

the

long

intr

oduc

tion

to a

Fre

nch

tran

slat

ion

of L

udw

ig B

insw

ange

r's

Trau

m u

nd E

xist

enz

(Le

reve

et l

'exi

sten

ce),

tran

s. J.

Ver

deau

x (B

ruge

s, B

elgi

um: D

escl

ee d

e B

rouw

er,

1954

, 9-1

28)

("D

ream

, Im

agin

atio

n, a

nd

Exis

tenc

e,"

tran

s. F

. Will

iam

s, R

evie

w o

f Exi

sten

tial

Psyc

holo

gy a

nd

Psyc

hiat

ry 1

9 [1

984-

1985

]: 2

9-78

). A

sec

ond

editi

on o

f the

form

er w

ork,

gr

eatly

revi

sed,

mos

tly in

acc

ord

wit

h th

e vi

ews

of H

isto

ire

de la

fol

ie,

appe

ared

as

Mal

adie

men

tale

et

psyc

holo

gie

(Par

is: P

ress

es U

nive

rsi-

tair

es d

e Fra

nce,

196

2) (M

enta

l Illn

ess a

nd P

sych

olog

y, tr

ans.

A S

heri

dan

[Ber

kele

y: U

nive

rsity

of

Cal

ifor

nia

Pres

s, 19

87])

. Fo

r a

disc

ussi

on o

f th

ese

early

wor

ks a

nd th

eir r

elat

ion

to H

isto

ire

de la

folie

, se

e G

uttin

g,

Fouc

ault'

s Ar

chae

olog

y, 5

5-69

. Fo

ucau

lt's

late

r w

ork

on t

he h

isto

ry o

f th

e pr

ison

(D

isci

plin

e an

d Pu

nish

, tra

ns.

Ala

n Sh

erid

an [

New

Yor

k: P

anth

eon,

197

7])

and

on

nine

teen

th-c

entu

ry s

exua

lity

(The

His

tory

of S

exua

lity,

Vol

. I:

An

In-

trod

uctio

n, tr

ans.

Rob

ert H

urle

y [N

ew Y

ork:

Pan

theo

n, 1

978]

) hav

e al

so

had

an i

mpo

rtan

t in

flue

nce

on h

isto

rian

s of

psy

chia

try.

The

ir c

hal-

leng

ing

view

s on

the

ine

xtri

cabl

e co

nnec

tions

of

pow

er a

nd k

now

l-ed

ge a

nd o

n th

e de

ep f

unct

iona

l si

mila

ritie

s of

mod

ern

inst

itut

ions

su

ch a

s as

ylum

s, p

riso

ns,

fact

orie

s, a

nd s

choo

ls m

ay i

n th

e lo

ng r

un

be m

ore

impo

rtan

t for

his

tori

ans

of p

sych

iatr

y th

an e

ven

the

His

tory

of

Mad

ness

. In

thi

s co

nnec

tion,

see

Rob

ert

Nye

's C

rim

e, M

adne

ss,

and

Polit

ics

in M

oder

n Fr

ance

(Pr

ince

ton,

N.J.

: Pr

ince

ton

Uni

vers

ity

Pres

s, 1

984)

. 4

Rob

ert

Man

drou

, "T

rois

cle

fs p

our

com

pren

dre

la f

olie

a l'e

poqu

e cl

assi

que,

" An

nale

s: E

cono

mic

s, S

ocie

tes,

Civ

ilisa

tions

(19

62):

761-

772.

5

Mic

hael

Mac

Don

ald,

Mys

tical

Bed

lam

: M

adne

ss,

Anx

iety

, an

d H

eal-

ing

in S

even

teen

th-C

entu

ry E

ngla

nd (

Cam

brid

ge:

Cam

brid

ge U

nive

r-si

ty P

ress

, 198

1), x

i. 6

Jan

Gol

dste

in, C

onso

le a

nd C

lass

ify: T

he F

renc

h Ps

ychi

atri

c Pr

ofes

sion

in

the

Nin

etee

nth

Cen

tury

(C

ambr

idge

: C

ambr

idge

Uni

vers

ity P

ress

, 19

87),

396.

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

71

7 R

oy P

orte

r, "F

ouca

ult's

Gre

at C

onfi

nem

ent,"

His

tory

of

the

Hum

an

Scie

nces

3 (

1990

): 47

. 8

Patr

icia

O'B

rien,

"Fo

ucau

lt's H

isto

ry of

Cul

ture

," in

Lyn

n H

unt,

ed.,

The

New

Cul

tura

l His

tory

(Ber

kele

y: U

nive

rsity

of C

alif

orni

a Pr

ess,

1989

), 25

-46.

9

H. C

. Eric

Mid

elfo

rt, "

Mad

ness

and

Civ

iliza

tion

in E

arly

Mod

ern

Euro

pe:

A R

eapp

rais

al o

f Mic

hel F

ouca

ult,"

in B

arba

ra M

alam

ent,

ed.,

Aft

er th

e Re

form

atio

n: E

ssay

s in

Hon

or o

ff. H

. H

exte

r (P

hila

delp

hia:

Uni

vers

ity

of P

enns

ylva

nia

Pres

s, 19

80),

259.

rn

Pe

ter S

edgw

ick,

Psy

cho

Polit

ics

(New

Yor

k: H

arpe

r & R

ow,

1982

),132

, n.

22

; La

wre

nce

Ston

e,

"Mad

ness

," N

ew Y

ork

Rev

iew

of

Book

s,

Dec

embe

r 16,

198

2, 3

6££.

(see

als

o th

e su

bseq

uent

"Ex

chan

ge"

betw

een

Fouc

ault

and

Ston

e, N

ew Y

ork

Rev

iew

of

Book

s, M

arch

31,

198

3,

42-4

4);

Ian

Hac

king

, "T

he A

rcha

eolo

gy o

f Fo

ucau

lt,"

in D

avid

Hoy

, ed

., Fo

ucau

lt: A

Cri

tical

Rea

der

(Oxf

ord:

Bas

il B

lack

wel

l, 19

86),

29;

Dom

inic

k La

Cap

ra,

"Fou

caul

t, H

isto

ry,

and

Mad

ness

," H

isto

ry o

f the

H

uman

Sci

ence

s 3

(198

9):

32-3

4.

11

See,

for e

xam

ple,

Roy

Por

ter,

Min

d Fo

rg' d

Man

acle

s ( C

ambr

idge

, Mas

s.:

Har

vard

Uni

vers

ity P

ress

, 19

87),

xi,

33; M

acD

onal

d, M

ystic

al B

edla

m,

I; A

ndre

w S

cull,

Mus

eum

s of

Mad

ness

(N

ew Y

ork:

St.

Mar

tin's

Pres

s, 19

79, 7

0); a

nd th

e In

trod

uctio

n to

W. F

. Byn

um, R

oy P

orte

r, an

d M

icha

el

Shep

herd

, ed

s., T

he A

nato

my

of M

adne

ss,

vol.

I (L

ondo

n: T

avis

tock

, 19

85),

3-4.

12

A

ndre

w S

cull,

"M

iche

l Fou

caul

t's H

isto

ry o

f Mad

ness

," H

isto

ry o

f the

H

uman

Sci

ence

s 3

(199

0):

57.

13

O'B

rien,

"Fo

ucau

lt's

His

tory

of C

ultu

re,"

3 I.

14

Gol

dste

in, C

onso

le a

nd C

lass

ify,

3.

15

Jan

Gol

dste

in, [

Book

Rev

iew

]. fo

urna

l of M

oder

n H

isto

ry 5

1 (1

979)

: II

7.

16

Meg

ill, "

Rec

eptio

n of

Fou

caul

t," 1

33-1

34.

17

Gor

don,

"R

espo

nse,

" 38

1.

18

Mid

elfo

rt, "

Mad

ness

and

Civ

iliza

tion,

" 24

9-25

1.

19

Ibid

., 25

3.

20

Col

in G

ordo

n po

ints

out

tha

t Mid

elfo

rt s

eem

s to

be

mis

led

by a

mis

-tr

ansl

atio

n in

Mad

ness

and

Civ

iliza

tion,

whi

ch h

as F

ouca

ult s

peak

ing

of th

e "e

asy

wan

deri

ng li

fe"

of th

e m

ad in

the

Mid

dle

Age

s an

d R

enai

s-sa

nce.

See

Gor

don,

"U

nkno

wn

Boo

k,"

17. F

or M

idel

fort

's re

spon

se t

o G

ordo

n (o

n th

is a

nd o

ther

poi

nts)

, see

"C

omm

ents

on

Col

in G

ordo

n,"

His

tory

of t

he H

uman

Sci

ence

s 3

(199

0): 4

1-46

. 21

I

hesi

tate

to

add

to t

he a

lrea

dy o

vere

xten

ded

cont

rove

rsy

abou

t M

idel

fort

's co

nten

tion

that

Fou

caul

t is w

rong

in h

is b

elie

f tha

t the

" shi

p of

foo

ls,"

so

prom

inen

t in

med

ieva

l lit

erat

ure

and

pain

ting,

act

ually

Page 16: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title States Code)users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/I'mnotcrazy!/foucaultmadness.pdf · 2017. 2. 20. · history of madness in the Classical Age,

72

GA

RY

GU

TT

ING

exis

ted.

Let

me

say

mer

ely

that

Fou

caul

t's u

se o

f the

shi

p is

alm

ost e

n-tir

ely

conc

erne

d w

ith

its li

tera

ry a

nd a

rtis

tic s

igni

fica

nce

and

that

it is

ce

ntra

l to

his

argu

men

t onl

y as

a s

trik

ing

(and

rich

) sym

bol o

f wha

t he

thin

ks w

as t

he s

tatu

s of

med

ieva

l mad

ness

. Dep

rivi

ng h

im o

f th

e as

-su

mpt

ion

that

suc

h sh

ips

actu

ally

exi

sted

has

a n

ugat

ory

effe

ct o

n th

e ev

iden

ce fo

r his

vie

w.

22

Mid

lefo

rt, "

Mad

ness

and

Civ

iliza

tion,

" 25

8-25

9.

23

Mid

elfo

rt a

lso

take

s Fo

ucau

lt to

tas

k fo

r ac

cept

ing

as f

act

the

myt

h of

Pin

el's

liber

atio

n of

the

mad

from

the

ir c

hain

s at

Bic

etre

. Thi

s is

a

blat

ant m

isre

adin

g, s

ince

Fou

caul

t is

not o

nly

wel

l aw

are

of th

e la

ck o

f fa

ctua

l bas

is fo

r the

ane

cdot

e, b

ut e

xplic

itly

trea

ts th

e st

ory

as a

myt

h.

For f

urth

er d

etai

ls, s

ee G

ordo

n, "

Unk

now

n B

ook,

" 15

-16.

24

Po

rter,

"Fou

caul

t's G

reat

Con

fine

men

t," 4

8.

25

Ibid

. 26

Ib

id.,

49.

27

Ibid

. 28

O

n th

e ot

her h

and,

Fou

caul

t's d

iscu

ssio

n in

Par

t II i

mpo

rtan

tly re

fine

s an

d de

epen

s hi

s vi

ew,

part

icul

arly

by

rela

ting

the

expe

rien

ce o

f m

ad-

ness

to C

lass

ical

con

cept

ions

of

imag

inat

ion,

pas

sion

, th

e m

ind-

body

un

ion,

and

lang

uage

. For

a f

ull a

naly

sis

of F

ouca

ult's

vie

w o

f Cla

ssic

al

mad

ness

(and

of t

he e

ntir

e pr

ojec

t of H

isto

ire

de la

folie

), se

e C

hapt

er 2

of m

y M

iche

l Fou

caul

t's A

rcha

eolo

gy o

f Sci

entif

ic R

easo

n (C

ambr

idge

: C

ambr

idge

Uni

vers

ity P

ress

, 198

9).

29

See,

for

exa

mpl

e, H

isto

ire

de la

fol

ie,

97,

100-

101,

103

, n

6,

139,

146

-14

9, 1

77.

30

Porte

r, "F

ouca

ult's

Gre

at C

onfi

nem

ent,"

47.

31

Po

rter,

Min

d Fo

rg'd

Man

acle

s, 7

. 32

Ib

id.,

X.

33

The

Arch

aeol

ogy

of K

now

ledg

e, 1

6 1 tr

ansl

atio

n m

odif

ied.

34

D

avid

Rot

hman

, The

Dis

cove

ry o

f the

Asy

lum

(Bos

ton:

Litt

le, B

row

n &

C

ompa

ny, 1

971)

, xvi

ii.

35

Ian

Dow

bigg

in,

Inhe

ritin

g M

adne

ss:

Prof

essi

onal

izat

ion

and

Psyc

hi-

atri

c K

now

ledg

e in

Nin

etee

nth-

Cen

tury

Fra

nce

(Ber

kele

y: U

nive

rsity

of

Cal

ifor

nia

Pres

s, 19

91),

170.

36

G

olds

tein

, Con

sole

and

Cla

ssify

, 3.

37

"Mic

hel

Fouc

ault

expl

ique

son

der

nier

liv

re,"

int

ervi

ew w

ith

J.-J.

Bro

chie

r, M

agaz

ine

litte

rair

e 28

(19

69):

24.

38

See

Fouc

ault'

s re

mar

ks

on

this

po

int

in

Col

in

Gor

don,

ed

., Po

wer

/Kno

wle

dge:

Sel

ecte

d In

terv

iew

s an

d O

ther

Wri

tings

, 197

2-19

77

(New

Yor

k: P

anth

eon,

198

0), 1

14.

39

For

mor

e on

Fou

caul

t's a

ttit

ude

tow

ard

cont

inui

ty,

see

Rob

ert

Nye

, C

rim

e, M

adne

ss,

and

Polit

ics

in M

oder

n Fr

ance

, u

-12

1 an

d Pa

tric

k

Fouc

ault

and

the

His

tory

of M

adne

ss

73

Hut

ton,

"T

he H

isto

ry o

f M

enta

litie

s: T

he N

ew M

ap o

f C

ultu

ral H

is-

tory

," H

isto

ry a

nd T

heor

y 20

(198

1): 2

54.

40

Alla

n M

egill

, "F

ouca

ult,

Am

bigu

ity,

and

the

Rhe

tori

c of

His

tori

ogra

-ph

y,"

His

tory

of t

he H

uman

Sci

ence

s 3

(199

0):

358.

41

Ib

id.,

350-

356.

For

furt

her d

iscu

ssio

n of

Fou

caul

t and

the

expe

rien

ce o

f m

adne

ss, s

ee G

uttin

g, F

ouca

ult's

Arc

haeo

logy

, 263

-265

. 42

In

com

pari

ng F

ouca

ult a

s a

hist

oria

n of

mad

ness

to H

egel

, I a

m n

ot sa

y-in

g th

at F

ouca

ult e

ndor

sed

the

met

aphy

sics

of t

he A

bsol

ute

that

und

er-

lies H

egel

's hi

stor

ies.

Fou

caul

t's id

ealis

m is

muc

h m

ore

met

hodo

logi

cal

than

met

aphy

sica

l, an

d pr

imar

ily d

eriv

es f

rom

the

str

ong

infl

uenc

e of

ph

enom

enol

ogy

on h

is e

arlie

r wri

tings

. (Th

is in

flue

nce

is m

ost p

rom

i-ne

nt in

the

essa

y on

Bin

swan

ger c

ited

in n

ote

3.) F

ouca

ult's

pen

chan

t fo

r id

ealis

tic a

s op

pose

d to

em

piri

cal h

isto

ry d

ecre

ased

ove

r the

yea

rs,

but I

wou

ld a

rgue

that

it re

mai

ns st

rong

at l

east

thro

ugh

Les m

ots

et le

s ch

oses

and

nev

er e

ntir

ely

disa

ppea

rs f

rom

his

wor

k. F

ouca

ult w

as w

ell

awar

e of

his

Heg

elia

n te

nden

cies

: "W

e ha

ve to

det

erm

ine

the

exte

nt to

w

hich

our

anti-

Heg

elia

nism

is p

ossi

bly

one

of h

is tr

icks

dir

ecte

d ag

ains

t us

, at t

he e

nd of

whi

ch h

e st

ands

, mot

ionl

ess,

wai

ting

for u

s" ( "

The

Dis

-co

urse

on

Lang

uage

," a

ppen

dix

to T

he A

rcha

eolo

gy o

f Kno

wle

dge,

2 3

5 ).

43

Jan

Gol

dste

in, "

'The

Liv

ely

Sens

ibili

ty o

f the

Fre

nchm

an':

Som

e R

efle

c-tio

ns o

n th

e Pl

ace

of F

ranc

e in

Fou

caul

t's H

isto

ire

de la

folie

," H

isto

ry

of th

e H

uman

Sci

ence

s 3

(199

0):

336.