Mad Travelers: Reflections on the Reality of Transient Mental Illnesses (Page-Barbour Lecture) - Hardcover

Ian Hacking (author)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0813918235 ISBN 13: 9780813918235

Publisher: University of Virginia Press, 1998

Synopsis

"It all began one morning last July when we noticed a young man of twenty-six crying in his bed in Dr. Pitre's ward. He had just come from a long journey on foot and was exhausted, but that was not the cause of his tears. He wept because he could not prevent himself from departing on a trip when the need took him; he deserted family, work, and daily life to walk as fast as he could, straight ahead, sometimes doing 70 kilometers a day on foot, until in the end he would be arrested for vagrancy and thrown in prison." -Dr. Philippe Tissie, July 1886Thus begins the recorded case history of Albert Dadas, a native of France's Bordeaux region and the first diagnosed mad traveler, or fuguer. An occasional employee of a local gas company, Dadas suffered from a strange compulsion that led him to travel obsessively, often without identification, not knowing who he was or why he traveled. He became notorious for his extraordinary expeditions to such far-reaching spots as Algeria, Moscow, and Constantinople. Medical reports of Dadas set off at the time of a small epidemic of compulsive mad voyagers, the epicenter of which was Bordeaux, but which soon spread throughout France to Italy, Germany, and Russia.

About this title

About the Author

Ian Hacking is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author of a number of books, most recently Rewriting the Soul.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Virginia Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813918235
• ISBN 13: 9780813918235
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 174