but you mis-understand psychosis. No psychotic could be taken so seriously, except in a very extreme economic and political situation and the failure of the democratic system in Germany. nevertheless Hitler was not a psychotic. This is impossible and demonstrates a deep seated ignorance of people on this list with psychosis. Hitler as evil or\and mad is implausible and tells us more about our values than about Hitlers. That he went out to spread his demagogic message, to divide and rule, requires an examination of similar political tactics used, for instance, by the British in India and Ireland. Under Capitalism psychosis is a discourse marginalised to the psychiatric hospital, but once one understands capitalism as a psychotic discourse, then it is difficult to say exactly why Hitler wasn´t a long stay mental patient, and why other long stay mental patients were executed by his creatures. Psychosis is implicit in the discourse of capitalism, but the psychotic who cannot cope is failing because of social and historical processes that intimate him or her as mad and not a leader. Of course many leaders are ´natural´ leaders, in other words, they originated from the ´correct´ genetic material and not the incorrect material. The break with this pattern is The English Civil War or the French Revolution, when ´natural´ leaders were deposed and ´unnatural´ ones rose only to become, in their turn, and I mean Napoleon, a problem to the plutocracy that dominated Europe at this time and was then solidified by the Congress of Vienna.
I hope these comments are helpful, I´m only seeking to clarify these terms,
best wishes,
Paul Murphy
> from: Kevin <imagery@xxxxxxx>
> date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 21:24:15
> to: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> subject: Re: Ideology and Fantasy
>
> I think there would be some debate about the psychiatric diagnosis of
> Hitler - ranging from psychotic manic-depressive to other conditions of
> psychosis. His cronies didn't have to be psychotic to buy into it. It
> only takes one leader with delusional thinking to sway the crowd, thus
> the power of cult leaders, parents, and politicians. Whether literal or
> figurative, collective psychosis was the result of Hitler's thinking,
> psychotic meaning a split between myth and reality, or as Richard said,
> between ideology and fantasy. Indeed, it's more than fantasy when it is
> acted upon. The myth that Hitler created about the body, contamination
> and the Jewish virus was a means of justifying the eradication of Jews
> (expanding it to include gays and mentally handicapped/physically
> handicapped individuals and others). The reality was that Hitler "swan
> in a sea of anti-Semitism" in the culture he lived in. His thinking may
> have been metaphoric to others, but it's doubtful they recognized it as
> such in that they acted upon it. Rene Girard argues that myths are
> sometimes used to rationalize victimization. If, as Foucault wrote, the
> world is language, this is a prime of example of the power of language
> to sculpt the beliefs of others.
>
> Kevin Kirkland, PhD Candidate
> UBC
>
Paul Murphy
Tel: 0044 02890 659866
Fax: 0044 02890 322767
I hope these comments are helpful, I´m only seeking to clarify these terms,
best wishes,
Paul Murphy
> from: Kevin <imagery@xxxxxxx>
> date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 21:24:15
> to: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> subject: Re: Ideology and Fantasy
>
> I think there would be some debate about the psychiatric diagnosis of
> Hitler - ranging from psychotic manic-depressive to other conditions of
> psychosis. His cronies didn't have to be psychotic to buy into it. It
> only takes one leader with delusional thinking to sway the crowd, thus
> the power of cult leaders, parents, and politicians. Whether literal or
> figurative, collective psychosis was the result of Hitler's thinking,
> psychotic meaning a split between myth and reality, or as Richard said,
> between ideology and fantasy. Indeed, it's more than fantasy when it is
> acted upon. The myth that Hitler created about the body, contamination
> and the Jewish virus was a means of justifying the eradication of Jews
> (expanding it to include gays and mentally handicapped/physically
> handicapped individuals and others). The reality was that Hitler "swan
> in a sea of anti-Semitism" in the culture he lived in. His thinking may
> have been metaphoric to others, but it's doubtful they recognized it as
> such in that they acted upon it. Rene Girard argues that myths are
> sometimes used to rationalize victimization. If, as Foucault wrote, the
> world is language, this is a prime of example of the power of language
> to sculpt the beliefs of others.
>
> Kevin Kirkland, PhD Candidate
> UBC
>
Paul Murphy
Tel: 0044 02890 659866
Fax: 0044 02890 322767