Madness and Civilization

In this work, Foucault analyzes the role of what he calls madness in the western civilization. In Stultifera Navis, he describes the disappearance of leprosy, and the emergence of madness in its place. Since the confinement within towns only seemed to attract more madmen, so exile on a ship, particularly the Narrenschiff or Ship of Fools, was among the first solutions. Why the confinement of lepers and instead expulsion of madmen? Madmen were seen as …

…of them. Madness is measured against a moral scale by psychiatrists and psychologists, but art asks the world disturbing questions and requires answers. The very fact that it does not support the way that society represents and treats madness calls society itself into question. Art attempts to redress the balance between madness and civilization. It is actually a “moment of silence” (288) that breaches life in the world so it can stop to question its madness.