Madness moves from empty self-enclosure to fixation on a definite content
Evidence
Idiocy is clearly nothing but the inverted ļ¬gure of alienation. Insanity proper begins when the natural spirit which is shut up in itself ā¦ acquires a deļ¬nite content and this content becomes a ļ¬xed idea, the spirit which is not as fully self-possessed becoming just as much absorbed in it as in idiocy it is absorbed in its own self, in the abyss of its indeterminateness. ā Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 377
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content
- DEFINE: Distinguishes idiocy (absorption in indeterminate self-abyss) from insanity proper (absorption in a definite fixed idea) ā two distinct pathologies of failed self-relation.
- QUESTION: Idiocy is called āthe inverted figure of alienationā ā an inversion worth chasing for the enmity thread: is the enemy likewise a determinate fixation that substitutes for an indeterminate self-fear?