Derangements of the Soul

Abstract

In Moby-Dick; or, the Whale (), Herman Melville writes that “there is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of man.” Hegel gives a sophisticated explanation of this fact, namely, that proper madness (der Wahn) is a peculiarly human condition. This argument is developed in the context of the Anthropology’s broader theory of the feeling soul (Die fühlende Seele: §§–). This prominently includes an explanation of the endogenous transformation of the sentient organism into bodily self-awareness, a change which Hegel calls the “awakening” of the sentient soul (die empfindende Seele) to the feeling of self (Selbstgefühl: §). The active condition of an individual capable of feeling – no longer capable only of sentience – implies the capacity for self-feeling. This is because the very activity of feeling consists of a permanent leading back of sensations (impressions, affections) toward a center. Since, according to Hegel, the phase of development in which the soul is most prone to being led astray from her path – i.e., to becoming deranged – is precisely the feeling phase, one of the chief features of the feeling soul also marks the common forms of insanity. It is the following: in feeling, there is no distinction for the soul between inner and outer, so that the question of whether the center toward which she refers all her