Madness and Civilization
A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · Print & ebook · November 28, 1988
Michel Foucault examines the archeology of madness in the West from 1500 to 1800 - from the late Middle Ages, when insanity was still considered part of everyday life and fools and lunatics walked the streets freely, to the time when such people began to be considered a threat, asylums were first built, and walls were erected between the "insane" and the rest of humanity.
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- Who it’s for
- A layered history of how Western ideas about madness shifted from everyday presence to confinement.
- Themes
- Changing views of insanity, Asylums and social exclusion
- Genres
- Post-Structuralism, History of Psychology, Social Theory
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Michel Foucault examines the archeology of madness in the West from 1500 to 1800 - from the late Middle Ages, when insanity was still considered part of everyday life and fools and lunatics walked the streets freely, to the time when such people began to be considered a threat, asylums were first built, and walls were erected between the "insane" and the rest of humanity.
Boundaries of Madness
A layered history of how Western ideas about madness shifted from everyday presence to confinement.
Come here for
- A long view of changing ideas about insanity
- The historical turn toward asylums and separation
Expect
- A sweep from 1500 to 1800
- Attention to the boundary drawn between the insane and others
Where it sits
| History of Psychology | 45% |
|---|---|
| Post-Structuralism | 31% |
| Social Theory | 28% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- European History
- Structuralism
- Social Theory
- Authors
- Michel Foucault
- Publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Published
- November 28, 1988
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Changing views of insanity · Asylums and social exclusion
- Reading lane
- European History