2007-03-24 19:08:23 · 6 answers · asked by rusalka 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Oh yes, I fully agree. What seemed insanity in Galileo to the society then, is science and sanity today.
2007-03-25 03:29:31 · answer #1 · answered by smartobees 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think so.
Consider schizophrenia as an example. A good definition of schizophrenia is having beliefs that aren't consistent with empirical reality. If a guy thinks he's Napoleon, despite not having an army or speaking French or anything else that would prove his assertion, we'd consider him delusional.
However, most people in the world believe in some religion or another, and assert beliefs in things that cannot be supported empirically. There's billions of people who believe in things like astrology and UFO cults and faith healing without a shred of hard evidence, yet they're not considered schizophrenic. In the Dark Ages, if you declared that it was silly to believe in things like virgins giving birth, you'd be considered a madman.
So, yes, concepts of sanity and insanity are mostly social constructs.
2007-03-25 02:22:38 · answer #2 · answered by crypto_the_unknown 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes they are. To an extent they are the same definitions as conforming and not conforming. If a persons own personal beliefs or ability to reason with others or even himself do not conform to those of people around him then he is considered to be insane. If they don't stand out from the crowd in any way then they are conforming to this label. Whether or not that people who are sane or insane are in the right place, society or asylums, is still impossible to proove. Who's to say that an eccentric man isn't crazy or that he's lost his mind. Who's to say that a successful buisness woman with four children and a loving husband isn't suicidal, also a label of insanity. It's society. And we all conform to it because of how well it has been ingrained.
2007-03-25 05:28:20 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not entirely, although the effects are always socially felt.
The causes may be physical, such as a disease or deformity of some area of the brain, but 'sanity' and 'insanity' are subjective descriptions of habits or what society sees as peculiarities.
2007-03-25 02:15:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
A simple answer is you're insane if you can't get along socially.
2007-03-25 02:50:37 · answer #5 · answered by Run_For_President 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in a sense. Don't you believe they're required? What if we didn't have those and everyone who was in an asylum went free? Would we be in trouble?
2007-03-25 17:00:15 · answer #6 · answered by Answerer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋