Thomas Lepoutre

‘De la non-existence de la monomanie’, by Jean-Pierre Falret (1854): Introduction and translation (Part 1) by

In 1854 Jean-Pierre Falret published an essay arguing against the concept of monomania, a nosological form which structured most French classifications of insanity until the middle of the nineteenth century. The historical importance of the text is already well known, since it marks the beginning of the decline of the monomanias. But the aim of this Classic Text was twofold: not only to cast doubt on the existence of the particular form, but also to reveal some misleading ‘tendencies’ or implicit ‘principles’ inherent to the Esquirolian nosology, in order to shine a new light on the conceptual apprehension of madness. Falret emphasized the importance of thorough clinical observations and the perspective of the whole patient, rejecting the partial attention given to isolated symptoms, and in this respect his work represents a turning point away from the more traditional alienism.

‘De la non-existence de la monomanie’, by Jean-Pierre Falret (1854)

The following text is the conclusion of a two-part translation of Falret’s 1854 essay arguing against the concept of monomania. In order to shine new light on the conceptual understanding of madness, the text emphasizes the importance of thorough clinical observations and the perspective of the whole patient, rejecting the disproportionate attention given to isolated symptoms, and in this respect his work represents a turning point away from the more traditional alienism.

Freud con Charcot: El descubrimiento de Freud y la cuestión del diagnóstico

Aunque el rol fundamental de Charcot en su influencia sobre Freud está ampliamente establecido, aunque el viaje de Freud a París para estudiar con Charcot es reconocido como central en su viraje del trabajo neurológico al psicopatológico, un hecho clave de la heurística freudiana permanece muy subestimado: concretamente, que el gran avance de Freud en psicopatología, que dio origen al psicoanálisis no puede separarse de su “preocupación por el diagnóstico”, que es un principio crucial y a veces el organizador principal de sus primeros escritos. El propósito de este artículo es, por lo tanto, reabrir la cuestión del diagnóstico siguiendo su desarrollo a lo largo del camino que lleva de Charcot a Freud. Los autores demuestran que la cuidadosa atención de Freud a las distinciones diagnósticas siguen estrictamente el “método nosológico” de Charcot. Lo que es aún más importante, el artículo tiene la intención de identificar la manera exacta en que sus ideas operan en el propio trabajo de Freud, para entender cómo Freud las resignificó para crear su propio sistema nosológico. Si los autores hacen un seguimiento del destino de las enseñanzas de Charcot cuando llegan a manos de Freud, la importancia concedida a las neurosis mixtas en la psicopatología de Freud les permite precisar el papel que juega el proceso diagnóstico en la racionalidad del psicoanálisis.

Freud with Charcot: Freud's discovery and the question of diagnosis.

Although Charcots seminal role in influencing Freud is widely stated, although Freuds trip to Paris to study with Charcot is well recognized as pivotal in his shift from neurological to psychopathological work, a key fact of the Freudian heuristic remains largely underestimated: namely, that Freuds psychopathological breakthrough, which gave birth to psychoanalysis, cannot be separated from his ‘diagnostic preoccupation’, which is a crucial and at times the first organizing principle of his earliest writings. The purpose of this article is therefore to reopen the question of diagnosis by following its development along the path leading from Charcot to Freud. The authors demonstrate that Freuds careful attention to diagnostic distinctions follows strictly in the direction of Charcots ‘nosological method’. More importantly, the article intends to identify the precise way in which his ideas operate in Freuds own work, in order to understand how Freud reinvests them to forge his own nosological system. If the authors trace the destiny of Charcots lessons as they reach Freuds hands, it is the importance granted to mixed neuroses in Freuds psychopathology that allows them to pinpoint the role played by the diagnostic process in the rationality of psychoanalysis.