| dc.description.abstract | What might be the value of the often rather abstract theoretical reflections of
philosophy for understanding the concrete and lived experience of various
forms of madness? And is there something contained within the transgres sive forms of mad experience that could be of special relevance for philo sophy? Are these two distinctively human domains of activity and
experience only externally and contingently related, perhaps only the affair
of the wandering philosopher with idiosyncratic interests; or might there
also be a more intrinsic or even essential affinity between them? If so, then
what, if any, would be the difference between philosophical reflection and
amazement regarding the basic categories of human existence (e.g., the
nature of reality, self, identity, truth, free will, . . .) and the kind of hyperre flexive interrogation of these foundational issues that we find in madness?
This broad set of questions formed the initial impetus and topics of
discussion of the first edition of the Too Mad to be True conference held
in Museum Dr Guislain in Ghent (Belgium) in 2021, an international
conference dedicated to exploring the various links and intersections
between philosophy and madness. The contributions of the current special
issue on The Philosophies of Madness that grew out of this conference have
all developed these questions further, applying them in two broadly dis tinctive ways. | vi |
