Madness and the limits of recognition

Abstract

This chapter, “Madness and the limits of recognition,” explores ways of bringing madness within the scope of recognition. This can be achieved by resolving the impairments to identity formation that remove madness from this scope. Resolution is to be understood in dialectical terms as a process governed by two requirements: (1) Preserve something of the phenomenology of madness; (2) resolve the impairments to identity formation. The chapter explores a range of narratives that appear relevant to this task, in each case assessing whether it can satisfy these two requirements: subjective narratives, professional narratives, and Mad narratives. The latter include the following: spiritual transformation, healing voices, and dangerous gifts. The chapter demonstrates how Mad narratives can play a role in resolving disunity of self and discontinuity of self, and hence at bringing madness within the scope of recognition.