Danilina, N. I. LATIN WORDS WITH THE MEANING OF INSANITY: DISTINGUISHING SYNONYMS. Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2022;44(3):73–78. DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2022.755


VI International Scientific Conference in memory of Professor T. G. Malchukova "Russia and Greece: Dialogues of Cultures"

LATIN WORDS WITH THE MEANING OF INSANITY: DISTINGUISHING SYNONYMS

Danilina
N. I. 		Saratov State Medical University named after V. I. Razumovsky
Keywords:
madness
insanity
Stoicism
Latin
semantics
Cicero
Seneca		 Summary: The aim of the article is to clarify the functional and semantic diff erences of synonyms with the meaning of “madness” in the Latin language: dementia, amentia, insania, furor. The material comprised selected contexts fromthe works of ancient authors, mainly Cicero (Tusculanae Disputationes) and Seneca (Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, De Ira), who developed this topic most comprehensively. It was established that the word insania can be used as a medical and philosophical term. In Stoic philosophy, insania is the antonym of the concept of sapientia, and its internal form is the basis of the widely used extended metaphor “ignorance is madness (unhealthiness), philosophy is treatment”. The words dementia, amentia and furor did not acquire terminological meaning. The concept of furor corresponds to aff ect in its modern sense and is included in a broader concept of passion, with anger being one of the forms of its manifestation. In Seneca’s works, the concepts of insania and furor correlate as general and specifi c, while Cicero only emphasizes their non-identity, without defi ning their relationship. In the commonly used plain language, furor characterizes the emotional sphere of the object of speech, has ascertaining semantics, and does not contain an evaluative component. The words dementia and amentia, on the contrary, are used primarily as a means of assessing the situation described by the speaker. Emotional evaluation (disapproval) is more associated with the word amentia, while rational evaluation (inconsistency with common sense) is associated with the word dementia.



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