TY - JOUR
T1 - The moral government of idiots
T2 - moral treatment in the work of Seguin
AU - Simpson, Murray K.
N1 - Medline is the source for the citation and abstract of this record.
PY - 1999
Y1 - 1999
N2 - This paper considers the role which moral treatment played in the treatment of idiots in the nineteenth century and particularly in the work of Edouard Seguin. It uses this discourse to identify some of the key elements of the definition of what constituted the "moral", viz. teleology, discipline and humane treatment. By way of interpretation, moral treatment and the "physiological method" of treating idiocy are presented as being based more on utility in securing the ends of social and productive subjects than on humanitarian notions of care or treatment. In additon, the paper supports the view that moral teatment allowed physicians to claim effectiveness in a field in which success had otherwise eluded them.
AB - This paper considers the role which moral treatment played in the treatment of idiots in the nineteenth century and particularly in the work of Edouard Seguin. It uses this discourse to identify some of the key elements of the definition of what constituted the "moral", viz. teleology, discipline and humane treatment. By way of interpretation, moral treatment and the "physiological method" of treating idiocy are presented as being based more on utility in securing the ends of social and productive subjects than on humanitarian notions of care or treatment. In additon, the paper supports the view that moral teatment allowed physicians to claim effectiveness in a field in which success had otherwise eluded them.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033145151&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0957154X9901003804
DO - 10.1177/0957154X9901003804
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0033145151
VL - 10
SP - 227
EP - 243
JO - History of Psychiatry
JF - History of Psychiatry
SN - 0957-154X
IS - 38
ER -