Enrico Morselli and the Social Politics of Psychiatry, 1852-1929 a Diss
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Madness and Method: Enrico Morselli and the Social Politics of Psychiatry, 1852-1929 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the Requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History By Daphne Claire Rozenblatt 2014 © Copyright by Daphne Claire Rozenblatt 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Madness and Method: Enrico Morselli and the Social Politics of Psychiatry, 1852-1929 by Daphne Claire Rozenblatt Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor David Warren Sabean, Chair In late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Europe, the nascent discipline of psychiatry struggled between its tethers to the material world and its nonmaterial aspirations. Most psychiatrists were physicians beholden to their medical training, whose interest in the mind raised questions germane to philosophical inquiry. While they sometimes promoted psychiatry as the most ambitious of the human sciences, their research methods remained materialist. They sought to understand the most traceless and immaterial – and at the same time most human – qualities of the mind and spirit through empirical and positivist experimentation. In many ways, these scientists worked in the umbrage of a long Cartesian shadow, either explicitly or implicitly drawing conclusions about the relationship between mind and matter. But in the mid-nineteenth ii century, Darwinism and evolutionary theory changed the terms of this debate, giving nature, mankind, and man’s mind a history and theory for change over time. This dissertation investigates the scientific career and intellectual pursuits of Enrico Morselli (1852-1929), an Italian psychiatrist who participated vociferously in the biological, medical, social, and political debates of his day. It takes Morselli as an important transitional or intermediary figure between two sides of a discourse on how to biologize human nature. On the one hand, Morselli was deeply entrenched in physiological psychiatry, physical anthropology, and criminal anthropology and modern biology and medicine – all of which relied heavily on bodily material evidence to “prove” the nature of illness, physical or moral. On the other, Morselli was inspired by scientists of another stripe and aspired to the questions posed by classical philosophy; he was a follower of Auguste Comte, Ernst Haeckel, and was learned in classical philosophy as well as Kant, Hegel, and Marx. As a psychiatrist, Morselli not only biologized the mind; modern empirical and positivist science led him to psychologize the body. Morselli exemplifies the way that the human sciences attuned to the broader social, political, and cultural context of post-Risorgimento Italy. Morselli himself offers a wealth of resources about intellectual and scientific life in fin- de-siècle Italy. A patriotic polymath, Morselli’s eclectic approach to what he called “scientific philosophy” led him to wear many hats: psychiatrist, anthropologist, sociologist, neurologist, alienist, and philosopher. His work is often cited and his achievements are clear: most histories of Italian psychiatry discuss Morselli, including his insane asylum reform; major studies on French sociologist Émile Durkheim refer to Morselli’s precursor work on suicide; writings on phobias include the two terms he coined, taphephobia (the fear of being buried alive) and dysmorphophobia (now called “body dysmorphic disorder”); histories of Italian anthropology iii reference his first Italian textbook on the subject; books of the criminal anthropologist Cesare Lombroso note Morselli’s objections; and studies on the Italian reception of Freud must include Morselli’s two-volume critique, the first of its kind in Italian. In addition to this shortlist of achievements, Morselli also published his opinions on the woman’s question, divorce, sexuality, eugenics, World War I, colonialism, racism, spiritism, and theories on education for the public. He served as an expert witness for highly publicized and often scandalous court cases, worked as a professor, a medical director for asylums and clinics, and served as an Italian senator. Because of the heterogeneous nature of the Morsellian oeuvre, this dissertation focuses on five concepts in order to navigate Morselli’s clinical research and psychiatric theories, and connect his scientific philosophy to his broader social and political concerns. They capture Morselli’s concept of the embodied mind and psychical body that infiltrated his psychiatric work and broader social and cultural thinking. The chapters are as follows: “Death: Self-murder, free will, and social facts”; “Energy: applications in mental theory and treatment”; “Work: disease, cure, and national ethos”; “Spirit: ghostly psyche and psychiatry of the soul”; and “Mind: the limits of consciousness.” By focusing on these subjects, this dissertation addresses concepts that reflect the political and social struggles embedded into self-understanding. iv The dissertation of Daphne Claire Rozenblatt is approved. Theodore M. Porter Lucia Re Geoffrey Symcox David Warren Sabean, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 v Dedicated to my family. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………..viii Vita………………………………………………………………………………………………xii Chapter 1. Introduction: Enrico Morselli, psychiatrist for the nation……………………………..1 Chapter 2. Death: self-murder, free choice, and social facts…………………………………….24 Chapter 3. Energy: applications in mental theory and treatment………………………………...58 Chapter 4. Work: disease, cure, and national ethos…………………………………………….102 Chapter 5. Spirit: ghostly psyche and psychiatry of the soul…………………………………...145 Chapter 6. Mind: the limits of consciousness…………………………………………………..191 Chapter 7. Conclusion: the dynamics of psychic life…………………………………………..230 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………238 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In conducting the research for this dissertation, I have relied on the hospitality of many archives, libraries, and research institutes, as well as the accommodation and assistance of their personnel, the sheer number of which reminds me that the singularly-authored historical monograph is the product of collaboration. I am extremely grateful for their help, time, and commitment to their craft. In Turin, I would like to thank Paola Novaria and the Archivio Storico dell’Università degli Studi di Torino, where I began my research, the Archivio Storico della Città di Torino, and particularly effective and kind staff for their kindness, curiosity, and knowledge, and the Biblioteche Civiche Torinesi, Special thanks to the Biblioteca Medica di Torino in Collegno and its personnel who welcomed me for several months, and particularly Pier Maria Furlan and the immense help and friendship of Calogero “Lillo” Baglio, without whom this research could not be what it is. In Genoa, I would like to thank Paolo Francesco Peloso offering detailed information on the archives and collections of Genoa, and the help of Gloria Pozzecco at the library of ASL #3 “Genovese,” the Archivio di Stato di Genoa, the Archivio Storico del Comune di Genova, the Archivio Universitario di Genova, and the Bibioteca Medica “Mario Segale” at the Ospedale Galliera di Genova, where I was helped by Margherita Corona. At the Centro Documentazione Scientifica e Biblioteca at Ospedale San Martino, I am very grateful for the committed assistance of Fulvia Sirocco, and at the Archivio Storico Psichiatrico, I had extensive help from Paola Cavanna and the entire staff of S2I. There I found many interesting documents, and many great friends. viii Further thanks to the Archivio di Stato di Macerata and their staff for sharing their rich collections with me, and the Archivio ex-Ospedale Psichiatrico San Lazzaro in Reggio Emilia whose professional skills and efficiency made my limited time there extremely fruitful. My gratitude extends to the Archivio dell’Ospedale Neuropsichiatrico di Racconigi, a visit made possible by the kindness of Massimo Tornabene and Alessandro Vallarino, and the Bakken Library and Museum, where I had the help of the incomparable librarian Elizabeth Ihrig. Furthermore, I was also given a research home in the library and facilities of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, and the American Academy of Rome. Between every research trip, I came back to work in the libraries of UCLA, where their staff and librarians make an incredible amount of research right here in Los Angeles. Thank you for being the backbone of a great research institute and supporting me throughout these years. I must extend my thanks to the institutes and centers that have supported my research and writing throughout the years, to their readers who believed in the possibilities of my research, and to their staff who support scholarly writing. I consider myself extremely lucky to have had to backing of the Center for European and Eurasian Studies at UCLA, the Andrew W. Mellon Council for European Studies, the Ahmanson History of Medicine Fund, the National Endowment for the Humanities with special thanks to John Davis and David Kertzer, the Bakken Museum and Library, the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, the Graduate Division of UCLA, and UCLA’s Department of History. My friends have been my fellow travelers, my confidantes, and my extreme good fortune in life, making every place and every moment feel like home. Asking forgiveness for only naming a few, I would like to extend particular thanks to those more