Book 3, Chapter 5

10 “They showed equal insight in calling a condition of the soul without the light of the mind ‘mindlessness’ and also ‘derangement.’ This makes clear that those who gave things these names held the very view that the Stoics, taking it from Socrates, have carefully preserved: all the unwise are unsound. For a soul suffering from any disease—and, as I just said, philosophers call these disturbed movements diseases—is no sounder than a diseased body. Thus wisdom is health of soul, and folly a kind of unsoundness, which is insanity and likewise derangement. These things are marked out far better by Latin words than by Greek ones.

11 “We shall find this in many other instances too; but that is for another time. Now to the matter before us. The whole nature and character of what we are investigating is revealed by the force of the word itself. Since we must understand as sound those whose minds are troubled by no movement resembling disease, we must call those in the opposite condition unsound. Nothing, then, could be better than the familiar Latin expression by which we say that people carried away without restraint by desire or anger have ‘passed out of control’—although anger itself is a part of desire, being defined as the desire for revenge. Those described as out of control are so described because they are not under the control of the mind, to which nature has given sovereignty over the entire soul. It is not easy for me to say how the Greeks came to use their word ‘mania’; nevertheless, we distinguish the thing itself better than they do. For we separate this insanity, which is linked to folly and has a wider reach, from frenzy. The Greeks do wish to do so, but their word is inadequate: what we call frenzy they call ‘black bile,’ as though the mind were disturbed only by black bile, and not often by violent anger, fear, or grief. It is this kind of frenzy we attribute to Athamas, Alcmaeon, Ajax, and Orestes. The Twelve Tables forbid someone in this condition to manage his own property. Accordingly, the text says not ‘if he is insane,’ but ‘if he becomes frenzied.’ For they thought that folly, though lacking steadiness—that is, soundness—could still maintain an average standard of duties and the ordinary, customary conduct of life; but frenzy, they judged, was the mind’s blindness in every respect. Although this appears more serious than insanity, it is nonetheless of such a kind that frenzy can befall the wise person, while insanity cannot. But that is another question. Let us return to our subject.”

10 “They were just as perceptive in naming a mental condition without the light of understanding amentia and also dementia—both words meaning a loss of mind. That tells us that the people who gave things these names thought the same as the Stoics, who carefully preserved what they’d learned from Socrates: everyone without wisdom is mentally unhealthy. A mind with an illness is no healthier than a body with an illness. As I just said, philosophers call these disturbed movements ‘illnesses.’ So wisdom is mental health, and lack of wisdom is a kind of poor mental health, which is madness, or loss of mind. The Latin words identify these things much better than the Greek ones.

11 “There are plenty of other cases where we’ll find this too; we can leave them for later and deal with what’s before us. The very meaning of the word reveals the nature and character of our subject. To be mentally healthy must mean being free from any agitating movement like an illness; the opposite condition must therefore be called unhealthy. That makes our everyday Latin phrase ‘out of control’ especially good. We apply it to someone swept away by unbridled anger or desire. Indeed, anger comes under desire: we define it as wanting revenge. Such people are ‘out of control’ because understanding no longer controls them. Nature assigned it the rule of the entire mind. Where the Greek name mania comes from, I can’t readily tell you. Still, we draw a clearer distinction within this condition than the Greeks. The broad madness associated with foolishness is one thing for us; raving insanity is another. They try to distinguish them, but lack a satisfactory word. For our raving insanity they say melancholia, ‘black bile.’ As if minds were only thrown off balance by black bile! Severe anger, fear, and grief often do it too. It’s in this sense that we call Athamas, Alcmaeon, Ajax, and Orestes raving mad. Anyone affected like that is barred by the Twelve Tables from controlling his property. Their wording says ‘if he is raving mad,’ not ‘if he is mad.’ Though foolishness lacks steadiness, or health, the lawgivers thought it could maintain an ordinary level of duty and the familiar practices of shared life. Raving insanity, they held, blinds the mind in every respect. Although that seems the worse condition, it can happen to someone wise, while the madness we’ve been discussing cannot. That belongs to a different inquiry. Back to the question we started with.”