On Madness: Understanding the Psychotic Mind

Richard G. T. Gipps demonstrates how efforts to rationalize psychotic thought result in us setting our face against the subject in their distress, offering a profound alternative to understanding delusion and psychosis. He recovers the value of expressive, motivational, and symbolic forms of understanding and shows us how to bear a truer witness to the psychotic subject in their brokenness, pain, and despair.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 06 October 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Psychopathological theorists often seek to understand the inner predicament of psychotic subjects by attempting to rationalize their opaque utterances and actions. However, philosopher and clinical psychologist Richard G. T. Gipps challenges this approach in his groundbreaking work. Gipps argues that by recognizing the limitations of rational retrieval, we can gain a deeper understanding of what it means to suffer from delusion and psychosis. He draws on patient memoir, psychopathological observation, and philosophical thought to offer a profound alternative. On the one hand, Gipps demonstrates how appreciating the impossibility of locating rational order within psychotic thought can enhance our understanding of delusion and psychosis. On the other hand, he recovers the value of expressive, motivational, and symbolic forms of understanding that become accessible when we are turned away from rationality. In this way, Gipps not only solves the psychopathological problem of delusion but also provides a way to bear a truer witness to the psychotic subject in their brokenness, pain, and despair.

Weight: 420g
Dimension: 156 x 234 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350192546