This book offers a comprehensive study of the views of ancient
philosophers on mental disorders. Relying on the original Greek and
Latin textual sources, the author describes and analyses how the ancient
philosophers explained mental illness and its symptoms, including
hallucinations, delusions, strange fears and inappropriate moods and how
they accounted for the respective roles of body and mind in such
disorders. Also considered are ethical questions relating to mental
illness, approaches to treatment and the position of mentally ill people
in societies of the times.
The volume opens with a historical overview that examines ancient
medical accounts of mental illness, from Hippocrates' famous Sacred
Disease to late antiquity medical authors. Separate chapters interpret
in detail the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Galen and the Stoics and a
final chapter summarises the views of various strains of Scepticism, the
Epicurean school and the Middle and Neo-Platonists.
Offering an important and useful contribution to the study of ancient
philosophy, psychology and medicine. This volume sheds new light on the
history of mental illness and presents a new angle on ancient
philosophical psychology.