Insanity: The Idea and Its Consequences - Softcover

Szasz, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0471525340 ISBN 13: 9780471525349

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 1990

Synopsis

Is insanity a myth? Does it exist merely to keep psychiatrists in business? Or maybe it is just an easy way to categorize 'socially unacceptable' behavior. Contentions like these have made Dr Szasz one of psychiatry's most celebrated and controversial thinkers. In "Insanity: The Idea and Its Consequences", Szasz challenges the way both science and society define insanity; in the process, he helps us better understand this often misunderstood 'condition'. Szasz attacks the universally accepted psychiatric doctrines that blur the distinction between literal and metaphoric diseases. Instead, he presents a more fully rounded account of the insanity concept and shows how it relates to and differs from three closely allied ideas - bodily illness, social deviance and the sick role.

About this title

About the Author:

Thomas Szasz (1920-2012) was professor of psychiatry emeritus at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York and adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, Washington, DC. He was a prominent figure in the anti-psychiatry movement and a critic of the moral and scientific foundation of psychiatry.

From the Back Cover:

In this book, Dr. Szasz challenges the way both science and society define insanity; in the process, he helps us better understand this often misunderstood condition.

About this edition

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0471525340
• ISBN 13: 9780471525349
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 414