"Sound mind" redirects here. For the phrase "sound mind in a sound body", see Mens sana in corpore sano.
Sanity (from Latin: sānitās) refers to the soundness, rationality, and health of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational. In modern society, the term has become exclusively synonymous with compos mentis (Latin: compos, having mastery of, and Latin: mentis, mind), in contrast with non compos mentis, or insanity, meaning troubled conscience. A sane mind is nowadays considered healthy both from its analytical - once called rational - and emotional aspects.[1] According to the writer G. K. Chesterton,[2] sanity involves wholeness, whereas insanity implies narrowness and brokenness.
Alfred Korzybski proposed a theory of sanity in his general semantics. He believed sanity was tied to the logical reasoning about and comprehension of what is going on in the world. He imposed this notion in a map-territory analogy: "A mapis not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a 'similar structure' to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness."[3] Given that science continually seeks to adjust its theories structurally to fit the facts, i.e., improves its maps to fit the territory, and thus advances more rapidly than any other field, he believed that the key to understanding sanity would be found in the study of the methods of science (and the study of structure as revealed by science). The adoption of a scientific outlook and attitude of continual adjustment by the individual toward their assumptions was the way, so he claimed. In other words, there were "factors of sanity to be found in the physico-mathematical methods of science." He also stressed that sanity requires the awareness that "whatever you say a thing is, it is not"[4] because anything expressed through language is not the reality it refers to: language is like a map, and the map is not the territory. The territory, or reality, remains unnamable, unspeakable, and mysterious. Hence, the widespread assumption that we can grasp reality through language involves a degree of insanity.
Psychiatrist Philip S. Graven suggested the term "un-sane" to describe a condition that is not exactly insane, but not quite sane either.[5]
In The Sane Society, published in 1955, psychologist Erich Fromm proposed that not just individuals, but entire societies "may be lacking in sanity." Fromm argued that one of the most deceptive features of social life involves "consensual validation":[6]
It is naively assumed that the fact that the majority of people share certain ideas or feelings proves the validity of these ideas and feelings. Nothing is further from the truth... Just as there is a folie à deux there is a folie à millions. The fact that millions of people share the same vices does not make these vices virtues, the fact that they share so many errors does not make the errors to be truths, and the fact that millions of people share the same form of mental pathology does not make these people sane.[7]
Lawedit
In criminal and mental health law, sanity is a legal term denoting that an individual is of sound mind and therefore can bear legal responsibility for their actions. The official legal term is compos mentis. It is generally defined in terms of the absence of insanity (non compos mentis). It is not a medical term, although the opinions of medical experts are often important in making a legal decision as to whether someone is sane or insane. It is also not the same concept as mental illness. One can be acting under profound mental illness and yet be sane, and one can also be ruled insane without an underlying mental illness.[8]
Legal definitions of sanity have been little explored by science and medicine, as the concentration has been on illness.[9] It remains entirely impossible to prove sanity. Furthermore, as Korzybski[10] has pointed out repeatedly, insanity to various degrees is widespread in the general population, which includes many people that are considered mentally fit in medical and legal terms. In this connection, Erich Fromm[11] referred to the "pathology of normalcy," while David Cooper proposed that normality was opposed to both madness and sanity.[12]
For a last will and testament to be valid, the testator must have testamentary capacity. This is often expressed using the phrase "being of sound mind and memory".
See alsoedit
Wikiquote has quotations related to Sanity.
Look up sane or sanity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
^Anderson, Steven W.; Antoine Bechara; Hanna Damasio; Daniel Tranel; Antonio R. Damasio (1999). (PDF). Nature Neuroscience. 2 (11): 1032–7. doi:10.1038/14833. PMID 10526345. S2CID 204990285. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-18.
^Chesterton, G. K. 2002. The Outline of Sanity. IHS Press
^Korzybski, A. 2010. Selections from Science and Sanity. The New Non-Aristotelian Library, p. VIII.
^When Ecology Does Not Count: Checking the Ecology of The Ecology Check by L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.
^Consensual validation at vault-co.com [dead link]
^Fromm, Erich. The Sane Society, Routledge, 1955, pp.14–15.
^West's encyclopedia of American law. Volume 9, S to substance abuse. West Publishing Company. Minneapolis/St. Paul: West Group. 1998. ISBN0-314-20166-1. OCLC 38179345.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Math, Suresh Bada; Kumar, Channaveerachari Naveen; Moirangthem, Sydney (2015). "Insanity Defense: Past, Present, and Future". Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine. 37 (4): 381–387. doi:10.4103/0253-7176.168559. PMC4676201. PMID 26702167. Very little research has been done on this topic [legal insanity] in India, however, there are few studies on exploring the clinical picture of the patients in prison.
^Korzybski, A. 2010. Selections from Science and Sanity. The New Non-Aristotelian Library.
^D Cooper, The Death of the Family (Penguin 1971) p. 12
May 01, 2024
sanity, other, uses, disambiguation, sound, mind, redirects, here, phrase, sound, mind, sound, body, mens, sana, corpore, sano, from, latin, sānitās, refers, soundness, rationality, health, human, mind, opposed, insanity, person, sane, they, rational, modern, . For other uses see Sanity disambiguation Sound mind redirects here For the phrase sound mind in a sound body see Mens sana in corpore sano Sanity from Latin sanitas refers to the soundness rationality and health of the human mind as opposed to insanity A person is sane if they are rational In modern society the term has become exclusively synonymous with compos mentis Latin compos having mastery of and Latin mentis mind in contrast with non compos mentis or insanity meaning troubled conscience A sane mind is nowadays considered healthy both from its analytical once called rational and emotional aspects 1 According to the writer G K Chesterton 2 sanity involves wholeness whereas insanity implies narrowness and brokenness Contents 1 Psychiatry and psychology 2 Law 3 See also 4 ReferencesPsychiatry and psychology editAlfred Korzybski proposed a theory of sanity in his general semantics He believed sanity was tied to the logical reasoning about and comprehension of what is going on in the world He imposed this notion in a map territory analogy A map is not the territory it represents but if correct it has a similar structure to the territory which accounts for its usefulness 3 Given that science continually seeks to adjust its theories structurally to fit the facts i e improves its maps to fit the territory and thus advances more rapidly than any other field he believed that the key to understanding sanity would be found in the study of the methods of science and the study of structure as revealed by science The adoption of a scientific outlook and attitude of continual adjustment by the individual toward their assumptions was the way so he claimed In other words there were factors of sanity to be found in the physico mathematical methods of science He also stressed that sanity requires the awareness that whatever you say a thing is it is not 4 because anything expressed through language is not the reality it refers to language is like a map and the map is not the territory The territory or reality remains unnamable unspeakable and mysterious Hence the widespread assumption that we can grasp reality through language involves a degree of insanity Psychiatrist Philip S Graven suggested the term un sane to describe a condition that is not exactly insane but not quite sane either 5 In The Sane Society published in 1955 psychologist Erich Fromm proposed that not just individuals but entire societies may be lacking in sanity Fromm argued that one of the most deceptive features of social life involves consensual validation 6 It is naively assumed that the fact that the majority of people share certain ideas or feelings proves the validity of these ideas and feelings Nothing is further from the truth Just as there is a folie a deux there is a folie a millions The fact that millions of people share the same vices does not make these vices virtues the fact that they share so many errors does not make the errors to be truths and the fact that millions of people share the same form of mental pathology does not make these people sane 7 Law editIn criminal and mental health law sanity is a legal term denoting that an individual is of sound mind and therefore can bear legal responsibility for their actions The official legal term is compos mentis It is generally defined in terms of the absence of insanity non compos mentis It is not a medical term although the opinions of medical experts are often important in making a legal decision as to whether someone is sane or insane It is also not the same concept as mental illness One can be acting under profound mental illness and yet be sane and one can also be ruled insane without an underlying mental illness 8 Legal definitions of sanity have been little explored by science and medicine as the concentration has been on illness 9 It remains entirely impossible to prove sanity Furthermore as Korzybski 10 has pointed out repeatedly insanity to various degrees is widespread in the general population which includes many people that are considered mentally fit in medical and legal terms In this connection Erich Fromm 11 referred to the pathology of normalcy while David Cooper proposed that normality was opposed to both madness and sanity 12 For a last will and testament to be valid the testator must have testamentary capacity This is often expressed using the phrase being of sound mind and memory See also edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Sanity nbsp Look up sane or sanity in Wiktionary the free dictionary George Eman Vaillant Insanity defense Rationalism Sanism Self actualisationReferences editThis article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Sanity news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2010 Learn how and when to remove this message Anderson Steven W Antoine Bechara Hanna Damasio Daniel Tranel Antonio R Damasio 1999 Impairment of social and moral behavior related to early damage in human prefrontal cortex PDF Nature Neuroscience 2 11 1032 7 doi 10 1038 14833 PMID 10526345 S2CID 204990285 Archived from the original PDF on 2014 05 18 Chesterton G K 2002 The Outline of Sanity IHS Press Science and Sanity by Alfred Korzybski Korzybski A 2010 Selections from Science and Sanity The New Non Aristotelian Library p VIII When Ecology Does Not Count Checking the Ecology of The Ecology Check by L Michael Hall Ph D Consensual validation at vault co com dead link Fromm Erich The Sane Society Routledge 1955 pp 14 15 West s encyclopedia of American law Volume 9 S to substance abuse West Publishing Company Minneapolis St Paul West Group 1998 ISBN 0 314 20166 1 OCLC 38179345 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint others link Math Suresh Bada Kumar Channaveerachari Naveen Moirangthem Sydney 2015 Insanity Defense Past Present and Future Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine 37 4 381 387 doi 10 4103 0253 7176 168559 PMC 4676201 PMID 26702167 Very little research has been done on this topic legal insanity in India however there are few studies on exploring the clinical picture of the patients in prison Korzybski A 2010 Selections from Science and Sanity The New Non Aristotelian Library Fromm Erich 1955 1990 The Sane Society D Cooper The Death of the Family Penguin 1971 p 12 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sanity amp oldid 1186984721, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
