Madness and Civilization

E165667

book historical study non-fiction book philosophical work

Madness and Civilization is Michel Foucault’s influential historical and philosophical study of how Western societies have defined, treated, and institutionalized madness from the Renaissance to the modern era.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Madness and Civilization canonical	7
Histoire de la folie à l’âge classique	3
"Cogito and the History of Madness"	1
Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1444195 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Madness and Civilization
Context triple: [Michel Foucault, notableWork, Madness and Civilization]

A. The Phenomenon of Man
The Phenomenon of Man is a philosophical and theological work by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin that explores human evolution and consciousness within a cosmic, spiritually oriented framework.
B. The Life of the Mind
The Life of the Mind is a posthumously published philosophical work by Hannah Arendt that explores the nature of thinking, willing, and judging as fundamental activities of human consciousness.
C. The Unconscious Civilization
The Unconscious Civilization is a non-fiction book by Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul that critiques modern corporate and consumer culture for undermining democracy and civic responsibility.
D. Minima Moralia
Minima Moralia is a collection of aphoristic reflections by Theodor W. Adorno that critically examines everyday life, culture, and morality in the context of late capitalism and postwar society.
E. Reason and Revolution
Reason and Revolution is a seminal 1941 philosophical work by Herbert Marcuse that critically interprets Hegel and traces the development of critical theory and modern social thought.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Madness and Civilization
Target entity description: Madness and Civilization is Michel Foucault’s influential historical and philosophical study of how Western societies have defined, treated, and institutionalized madness from the Renaissance to the modern era.

A. The Phenomenon of Man
The Phenomenon of Man is a philosophical and theological work by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin that explores human evolution and consciousness within a cosmic, spiritually oriented framework.
B. The Life of the Mind
The Life of the Mind is a posthumously published philosophical work by Hannah Arendt that explores the nature of thinking, willing, and judging as fundamental activities of human consciousness.
C. The Unconscious Civilization
The Unconscious Civilization is a non-fiction book by Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul that critiques modern corporate and consumer culture for undermining democracy and civic responsibility.
D. Minima Moralia
Minima Moralia is a collection of aphoristic reflections by Theodor W. Adorno that critically examines everyday life, culture, and morality in the context of late capitalism and postwar society.
E. Reason and Revolution
Reason and Revolution is a seminal 1941 philosophical work by Herbert Marcuse that critically interprets Hegel and traces the development of critical theory and modern social thought.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	book ⓘ historical study ⓘ non-fiction book ⓘ philosophical work ⓘ
approach	archaeological method ⓘ genealogical analysis ⓘ
author	Michel Foucault ⓘ
centralConcept	archaeology of knowledge ⓘ episteme ⓘ the Great Confinement ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	France ⓘ
EnglishTitle	Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason ⓘ linked to: Madness and Civilization
examines	asylums ⓘ hospitals for the insane ⓘ leprosaria ⓘ medicalization of madness ⓘ moral treatment ⓘ psychiatric power ⓘ workhouses ⓘ
focusesOn	England ⓘ France ⓘ Western Europe ⓘ
genre	history of ideas ⓘ intellectual history ⓘ philosophy ⓘ
influenced	anti-psychiatry movement ⓘ critical psychiatry ⓘ cultural studies ⓘ post-structuralist thought ⓘ social history of medicine ⓘ
keyTheme	construction of madness as otherness ⓘ relationship between power and knowledge ⓘ
notableFigureDiscussed	Philippe Pinel ⓘ Samuel Tuke ⓘ
originalLanguage	French ⓘ
originalTitle	Histoire de la folie à l’âge classique ⓘ linked to: Madness and Civilization
publicationYear	1961 ⓘ
publisherOfFirstEdition	Plon ⓘ
subject	Foucauldian genealogy ⓘ confinement ⓘ history of madness ⓘ history of psychiatry ⓘ institutionalization of the insane ⓘ philosophy of medicine ⓘ reason and unreason ⓘ social history ⓘ
timePeriodCovered	Classical age ⓘ Renaissance ⓘ modern era ⓘ
translatedInto	English ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (12)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Michel Foucault → notableWork → Madness and Civilization ⓘ

Paul-Michel Foucault → notableWork → Madness and Civilization ⓘ

subject linked to: Paul-Michel

Madness and Civilization → originalTitle → Histoire de la folie à l’âge classique ⓘ