Pure Madness / philosophy of madness

In this seminar we will deal with Wouter Kuster's philosophical book "A philosophy of Madness", in which he deals with the experiences of his own psychosis from a philosophical point of view. From Kuster's standpoint, "madness" turns out not to be a neurological or psychological disorder, but a genuinely philosophical challenge. Psychosis shows us that we can experience the world quite differently than we mostly believe, and challenges the "normal person" and the philosopher to question the existence of an extrapsychic reality or pre-assumptions on the nature of time and space and language.

For Kusters, philosophy and madness have a surprising amount in common: both begin with a detachment from our reality, and seek to find explanations for what is supposedly self-evident. From the point of view of psychosis and philosophy, the normal ultimately appears to us as much in need of explanation as the insane, reality perhaps only as a collective madness. Who has experienced that she or he can move back and forth in time as in space, to those the question arises why time seems to flow for most of us only in one direction. And is this always true anyway - for example, when we dream?

Through a combination of first-person account and philosophical reflection, Wouter Kusters manages to make even (as he writes) "outsiders" understand the world of the psychotic. He draws analogies and takes examples in which our lives, are not as normal as we ourselves believe - such as when we dream, fall in love, or have spiritual or drug induced experiences.

In our seminar we not only want to deal philosophically with the experience of madness, but also dare to take a mad approach to philosophy. Since Kant, one of the central questions of philosophy is no longer "What is reality, time or space?" but "How does a common reality emerge? How does the experience of a continuous time emerge from experiences, memories and expectations?". If this "anti-realist" philosophy breaks with our everyday belief of a given, independent reality, it still retains, for the most part, the assumption of one reality, one nature of time, and one nature of space. This bias, which ignores the mad multiplicity of forms of reality, time, and space, often makes it difficult to enter into and understand modern, European philosophy, which spans from Kant via Phenomenology to Post-structuralism. In this seminar we want to find out if we cannot better understand the questions of philosophy from a mad perspective.

In addition to reading Kuster's work, we will read shorter excerpts of classical philosophical texts (Kant, Husserl, Foucault). Depending on our interests, we may consult psychoanalytic and other philosophical texts (Lacan, Deleuze/Guattari). Furthermore, there will be enough room for the question whether and to what extent, not only philosophy, but also artistic practices can be understood as something that makes madness comprehensible by dislocating normality. Participants are welcome to bring their artistic works or those of others, as well as their individual questions and explorations of the topic, into the collective discussion.

Students are granted all the freedom that their study programs allow when it comes to the completion of coursework: from presentations, essays, and term papers to alternative proposals in the intermediate field between theoretical and artistic practice, everything is welcome from my side as a lecturer. More details can be clarified with me in the course of the seminar or via email in advance.

The seminar is organized as a block seminar with 4 attendance dates. Since I am aware that absences may occur due to overlaps with other courses, I will be as accommodating as possible in this regard. High absenteeism can be compensated by additional work such as essays, short presentations, artistic research, or any form of work, that expresses your interest and commitment to the topic.

The main course language is German. Participants who are more fluent in English are welcome to speak and write in English. Please email me directly if you have questions concerning language.

Main reading: Wouter Kusters. A philosophy of Madness. The Experience of Psychotic Thinking. ISBN: 9780262044288