Description: In The Dao of Madness, Alexus McLeod discuss three different accounts of the concept of "madness" (kuang) in early Chinese thought, and the origins of the conception of mental illness in early China. Madness is discussed in early Chinese texts in connection with personhood, self-cultivation, and agency. The book explores the role of madness in Confucian texts, which take madness as the result of flawed character, and in the Zhuangzi and related texts, which celebrate madness as an alternative and unbounded view of the world. The attempt to solve some of the problems inherent in these earlier views of madness leads to the "medicalization" of madness and mental illness more generally in Han Dynasty texts, and the origin of the Chinese medical tradition. Understanding these crucial links between the medical tradition and the philosophical tradition in early China clarifies early views of personhood, agency, and self-cultivation.
Review Quotes: "The work is an exciting exploration of an unreasonably marginalized topic that should be of interest to a wide array of readers that are keen on Chinese religious philosophies and cross-cultural medical humanities." -- Lehel Balogh, Religious Studies Review
"This lucid, accessible account of madness in ancient China demonstrates, contra Foucault, that peoples of all cultures make distinctions between the sane and insane, healthy and mentally ill. They do so, however, in vastly different ways - ways that help us think productively about current philosophical issues concerning self, personhood, and agency. Anyone who wants to understand mental illness from a scintillating, cross-cultural and comparative framework should read McLeod's book." -- Erica Brindley, Professor of Asian Studies, History and Philosophy, Penn State University"The Dao of Madness is a fascinating work of comparative philosophy. By reorganizing the narrative of early Chinese thought around debates about what counts as madness and sanity, McLeod raises many intriguing ideas to a new level of prominence. Especially noteworthy is the way he brings together discussions from the early medical texts with the philosophical literature. ÂReaders interested in moral psychology, comparative ethics, and different conceptions of human subjectivity will be eager to engage with the diverse early Chinese accounts presented here." -- Aaron Stalnaker, Professor of Religious Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington"The work is an exciting exploration of an unreasonably marginalized topic that should be of interest to a wide array of readers that are keen on Chinese religious philosophies and cross-cultural medical humanities." -- Lehel Balogh, Religious Studies Review Vol 48.4"MacLeod's insightful and thought-provoking study may inspire sinologists to explore the changing meaning of madness in early China. For researchers of madness and its history in the West, this masterful book may further their knowledge of the diverse ways of "being mad" in different social and historical contexts." -- Shu Wan, H-Sci-Med-Tech