Albert Lemoine and the epistemology in psychiatry

Abstract

Abstract In 1862, the French philosopher Albert Lemoine (1824-1874) published one of the earliest books on the philosophy of psychiatry and psychopathology. Although brought up as a Spiritualist thinker in the mould of Maine de Biran and Royer-Collard, he attempted to reconcile the speculative neurobiological account of madness predominant in his time (particularly amongst alienists interested in its medicalization) with a broader approach that conceived of the mind as a psychological space populated by dynamic forces and elements also relevant to the causality and meaning of madness. In the ongoing debate on whether Psychology or Physiology was the most appropriate science for the study of Madness he rightly stood in the middle. His views remain important for the issues that he dealt with have not yet been resolved.

Keywords

• Psiquiatria
• epistemologia
• século XIX
• França
• filosofia
• análise conceituai