Your mid-week read!
"Madness": an essay by philosopher and psychiatrist Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed
“Madness” by Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed. What is madness? Is it a pure deficit to be cured or managed? Is it merely an expression of the loss of reason, an obstacle to free action, and an impediment to social participation?
In this essay from our “New Basics” series, Mohammed traces the history of exclusion of madness from philosophy before considering the ways in which contemporary mental health activism, like Mad Pride, is creating a cultural change in the way madness and normality are perceived. As he argues, we need a shift in our understanding of identity, personhood, autonomy, sociality, and rationality, as the limited conceptions we currently operate with can no longer be held as the yardstick against which madness is measured and always found wanting. You can read Mohammed’s essay here.
N.B. Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed (along with Finn Mackay and Lani Watson) will be speaking at our 100th anniversary/book launch celebration event at Conway Hall in London on Thursday 18th May. For more details and to buy tickets, visit here.