title: The emergence of psychiatric semiology during the Age of Revolution: evolving concepts of 'normal' and 'pathological'.
abstract: This article addresses some important questions in psychiatric semiology. The concept of a sign is crucial in psychiatry. How do signs emerge, and what gives them validity and legitimacy? What are the boundaries of 'normal' and 'pathological' behaviour and mental experiences? To address these issues, we analyse the characteristics and rules that govern semiological signs and clinical elements. We examine 'normality' from the perspective of Georges Canguilehm and compare the differences of 'normal' in physiology and psychiatry. We then examine the history and the philosophical, linguistic and medical-psychiatric origins of semiology during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (the Age of Revolution). The field of rhetoric and oratory has emphasized the importance of passions, emotions and language as applied to signs of madness. Another perspective on semiology, provided by Michel Foucault, lays stress on the concept of 'instinct' and the axis of voluntary-involuntary behaviour. Finally, we analyse how statistics and eugenics have played an important role in our current conceptualization of the norm and therefore the scientific discourse behind the established clinical signs.
authors: Clínica la Inmaculada and Universidad de San Buenaventura, Bogotá, Colombia delp81@yahoo.com.
authors: Diego Enrique
authors: DE
authors: Londoño
authors: Clínica la Inmaculada and Universidad de San Buenaventura, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors: Tom
authors: T
authors: Dening
mesh_terms: D001519:Behavior / Q000145:classification; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics / Q000266:history*; D008603:Mental Health / Q000145:classification / Q000266:history; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history*; D011599:Psychopathology / Q000266:history*; D009626:Terminology as Topic
keywords: Historical aspects; normality; philosophy; psychiatry; signs and symptoms