I walked passed “A Philosophy of Madness: The Experience of Psychotic Thinking” by Wouter Kusters in my local bookstore the other day, and I was simultaneously intrigued and leery. I sough out a book review, and while both reactions remain, the review made for very good reading!
One idea I particularly liked is captured in this early quote from the review:
“What, exactly, is the relationship between madness and philosophy? What is the relationship between the two such that it is possible for a text to occupy an indeterminate position between philosophical exposition and mad diary?
What makes this indeterminacy possible is that philosophy and madness are ‘after’ the same thing. They share the same object and end: the supreme principle of reality; the structure of time, space, and persistence; the mystery of being and non-being; the incomprehensible glory of God.”
The idea that texts (or even types of texts) sometimes sound alike because they’re trying to achieve a similar goal is a neat thinking tool. Like many good ideas, it sounds obvious once it’s written out, but I don’t think it had ever occurred to me before.
Leave a Reply