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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas A Watson who wrote (314054)	11/4/2002 1:42:40 PM
From: Gordon A. Langston	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Speaking of psychotic, have you ever come across this guy. He came up with this in the 60's. Conclusions The word "mind" and the derivative term "mental illness" name two of our most important, but most confused and confusing, ideas. The Latin word "mens" means not only mind but also intention and will, a signification still present in our use of the word "mind" as a verb. Because we attribute intention only to intelligent, sentient beings, minding implies agency. The concept of mind-as the attribution of moral agency to some persons but not others-plays a crucial role in moral philosophy, law, and psychiatry. Infants and demented old persons cannot communicate by language and are therefore typically excluded from the category of moral agents. In the past, some persons able to communicate by language-for example, slaves and women-were also denied the status of moral agents. Today, many children and mental patients-possessing the ability to communicate-are denied that status. The point is that attributing or refusing to attribute moral agency to the Other is a matter of both fact and tactic-a decision that depends not only on the Other's abilities, but also on our attitude toward him. To be recognised as a moral agent, an individual must be able and willing to function as a responsible member of society, and society must be willing to ascribe that capacity and status to him. The dependence of moral agency on mindedness renders the judgment of impaired mindedness-that is, the diagnosis of "mental illness"-of paramount legal and social significance. Two common tactics characteristic of our age deserve special mention in this connection. One is treating persons as incompetent when in fact they are not-harming them under the guise of helping them. The other is treating persons as victims when in fact they are victimisers (of themselves or others)-excusing them of responsibility for their behaviour (blaming their self injury or injury of others on innocent third parties). Paradoxically, the old, prescientific-religious explanation of human behaviour is more faithful to the facts than the modern, scientific-psychiatric explanation of it. When man invents the Perfect Judge and calls him "God," he creates an arbiter who does not distinguish between two kinds of conduct-one rational, for which man is responsible, and another irrational, for which he is not. Being held responsible for our actions is what renders us fully human: it is the glory with which God endows everyone, and the burden He imposes on everyone. Erroneous explanations of the material world lead to physical catastrophes, false explanations of the human condition, to moral catastrophes. szasz.com