Daniel Berthold-Bond is Professor of Philosophy at Bard College. He is the author of Hegel's Grand Synthesis: A Study of Being, Thought, and History, also published by SUNY Press.

"This book provides us with a very intelligent understanding of Hegel's view of madness, especially in its comparative strengths relative to more influential views such as Freud's. The author also helpfully relates Hegel to some very current debates about the precise status of insanity." — William Desmond, Loyola College"

• Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Note on the Zusätze to Hegel's Lectures Chapter One.  Introduction Chapter Two.  Hegel's Place in Early Nineteenth Century Views of Madness Hegel's Middle PathThe Turning PointContesting FactionsRomantic and Empirical MedicineThe Somatic and Psychic SchoolsHegel's Speculative Philosophy of MedicineHegel's Anthropology of Madness:The Reversion of the Mind to NatureRegression, Displacement, DreamHegel and the RomanticsHegel, the Somatic/Psychic Controversy, and Animal MagnetismChapter Three.  Madness as the Decentering of Reason The Anatomy of MadnessWithdrawal, Separation, and DecenteringFeeling and LanguageNature, Dream, and the UnconsciousMadness and the Developed ConsciousnessDesireDespairAre We All Mad?Madness in Relation to Stoicism, Skepticism, and the Unhappy ConsciousnessThe Intimacy of Madness: Christiane, Hölderlin, and the Limits of an Ontology of MadnessMadness and Hegel's IdealismThe Quest for Unity in the Midst of DiscordIdealism, Madness, and HistoryChapter Four.  Madness and the Second Face of Desire The Two Faces of Desire'I am I,' Narcissism, and the Death InstinctConsciousness and Self-ConsciousnessThe Lure of a Primordial UnityThe Death Instinct and the Work of DestructionThe Role of Destruction in Despair and MadnessThe Other Face of Desire: the Power of EvolutionThe FallEden: Nature, Innocence, and EvilThe Serpent and the CurseForgetfulnessLaborChapter Five.  Madness and the Unconscious Placing Hegel in Dialogue with Nietzsche and FreudThe Definition of Madness: Regression, Separation, NostalgiaHegel and FreudFeatures of the UnconsciousHealth and IllnessEnter NietzscheIllness and 'The Great Health'The Critique of Metaphysical Constructions of RealityMadness, Dreams, and SublimationDreams and ArtArt, Sublimation, and RepressionThe Status of Privacy and CommunityThe Double Center of MadnessChapter Six.  Madness, Action, and Intentionality The Idea of Un-IntentionalityThe Anatomy of UnintentionalityThe Circle of ActionHegel's Critique of Anti-ConsequentialismThe Recoil of Action and AlienationIntentionality and LanguageThe Unintentional and the UnconsciousMadness and UnintentionalityChapter Seven.  Madness and Tragedy On the Borderline: The Between-Space of Madness and 'Normalcy'The Ontology of DisunionThe Broken WorldMadness and The Tragic Collision of OppositesMadness, Tragedy, and DespairSubmersion, Darkness, and the Infernal Powers of NatureThe Return to Origins, a Place Prior to TimePhysis and NomosAjax and AntigoneIssues of PatriarchyMyth and HistoryInversion, Ambiguity, and GuiltThe Inverted WorldThe Law of the Heart and Tragic InversionThe UnconsciousEvil and GuiltOntology and Anguish: The Logic and Horror of EvilDarkened MirrorsChapter Eight.  Madness and Society: Coming to Terms with Hegel's Silence The Absent Stage SettingFoucault and Szasz:The Social-Political 'Invention' of MadnessSome Differences and SimilaritiesThe Semantics of MadnessThe Politics of Semantic TransformationHabeas Corpus: You Should Have the BodyDecoding Hegel's SilenceThe Context of the ''Anthropology" of MadnessThe Life of the Soul as Pre-HistoryFrom Anthropology to Phenomenology: From Origins to HistoryHegel's Ontology of Madness as an 'Abbreviation'?Satisfying the Writ of Habeas Corpus: We Have the BodyTherapeutics: Coercion or Liberation?Hegel's Pinelian Heritage: 'Moral Treatment' and the Imperative of LaborThe Missing Link: Poverty, Destitution, Social MarginalizationA Revolutionary Therapeutics?Extending Hegel's 'Middle Path': Reconciling the Social Constitution of Madness with OntologyNotes Bibliography Author Index Subject Index