Madness and spiritualist philosophy of mind
Maine de Biran and A. A. Royer-Collard on a ‘true dualism’
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21597746 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Samuel Lézé (0000-0001-9534-9675, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 885-902 |
| Publication date | 2020-09-02 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal for the History of Philosophy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0960-8788 • E-ISSN: 1469-3526 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09608788.2020.1801381 |
| OpenAlex | W3048563101 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 5 |
The exchange between the philosopher Pierre Maine de Biran and the psychiatrist Antoine-Athanase Royer-Collard has been read either as an exemplary case of the influence of philosophy on medicine or as a “dialogue of the deaf” (Braunstein, Broussais et le matérialisme, 47). However, these two readings imply a clear distribution of roles between the philosopher and the doctor. This article instead examines the metaphysical nature of the discussion between the two spiritualists in their aim to establish a ‘true spiritualism’ from a common problem: the nature of madness. Based on a constellation analysis of Biran’s Nouvelles considérations sur les rapports du Physique et du Moral and Royer-Collard’s 1821 lecture on this manuscript, the article shows that both thinkers are concerned with the most appropriate form of dualism, and how it is possible to establish a relationship between the two fundamental aspects of man – the physical and moral – without denaturing each of them. Paradoxically, the analysis makes manifest a reversal of roles: whereas Biran has a static conception of dualism leading to an organic conception of madness, Royer-Collard demands a dynamic dualism that makes it possible to conceive a causal role for the mind in madness
Dualism · Epistemology · Metaphysics · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Historical and Scientific Studies · Philosophy · Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
| Citations per year | 0.27 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2024 (10) |
| Highly cited | No |