Wild Beasts and Idle Humors: The Insanity Defense from Antiquity to the Present (Paperback)

by Daniel Robinson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
A flurry of books dealing with the insanity defense appeared in the mid-Eighties following the controversial verdict in the trial of John Hinckley for attempting to assassinate President Reagan. Not much has been published since. Robinson's (An Intellectual History of Psychology, LJ 8/95) work is a welcome addition to the literature and a valuable book for readers with an interest in either law or psychology. An intellectual history of the interplay of psychology and law within the narrow context of insanity as a legal defense in criminal or civil actions, this book carefully examines the views of human nature prevalent in classical Greece and Rome, the early and later Middle Ages, the Enlightenment, and the era of modern science. It then traces the influences of these ideas on the development of the concepts and structures of the law. The book is scholarly in tone and methodology (there are over 40 pages of endnotes) but clear and readable. The legal issues are not presented in an overly technical manner; both lawyer and lay reader can read this book with benefit. Highly recommended for academic libraries with collections in either law or psychology.?Patrick Petit, Catholic Univ. Law Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
An American psychologist, Daniel N. Robinson, traces the development of the insanity plea...[He offers] an assured historical survey.
--Roy Porter (The Times [UK] )

Daniel N. Robinson has written a graceful history of insanity and the law stretching from Homer to Hinckley. He attempts no final theory as to how the law should cope with the insane; he seeks, rather, to use the shifting notions of when madness exculpates criminal activity to illuminate the core self-perceptions of the cultures developing ever-evolving resolutions of the problem...[T]he grandeur of the theme--starting with Agamemnon's crazed humiliation of Achilles and ending yesterday--commands attention and respect.
--Neal Johnston (The Nation )

Anyone interested in the nature, meaning, and justification of an insanity defense will profit from Robinson's book, whether beginning an examination of that defense or seeking a deeper understanding of it...Highly recommended. (Choice )

Professor Robinson's interesting and scholarly book is the first to deal with the history of legal insanity from Ancient Greece and Rome to modern times...Most of the book, dealing with a topic so little known, is fascinating.
--Radmila May (Contemporary Review [UK] )

[This] work is a welcome addition to the literature and a valuable book for readers with an interest in either law or psychology. An intellectual history of the interplay of psychology and law within the narrow context of insanity as a legal defense in criminal or civil actions, this book carefully examines the views of human nature prevalent in classical Greece and Rome, the early and later Middle Ages, the Enlightenment, and the era of modern science. It then traces the influences of these ideas on the development of the concepts and structures of the law...Both lawyer and lay reader can read this book with benefit. (Library Journal )

[A] wonderful book...This work ultimately stands as a treatise on Western law's ongoing struggle to contend with a hodge-podge of mental illnesses, unfortunate coincidences, and other unexplained phenomena, dealt with until recently under the rubric of 'magic.' It would be a shame for psychologists, psychiatrists, and legal scholars to miss out on this book...No comprehensive collection of works in this area would be complete without a copy of Wild Beasts and Idle Humours.
--Eric Drogin (The Federal Lawyer )

Wild Beasts and Idle Humours is truly unique. It synthesizes material that I do not believe has ever been considered in this context, and links up the historical past with contemporaneous values and politics. Robinson effortlessly weaves religious history, literary history, medical history, and political history, and demonstrates how the insanity defense cannot be fully understood without consideration of all these sources.
--Michael L. Perlin, New York Law School

A detailed historical anthropology of legal insanity that draws upon multiple and rich historical sources from antiquity to the present. Wild Beasts and Idle Humours reads like the inner workings of a fascinating and disciplined narrative mind.
--Dr. Robert Kinscherff, Massachusetts General Hospital

This book is a unique study. It is of great value because of the diversity, richness, and depth of intelligence which is brought to bear on its subject. The author is extremely well-read. He makes deft use of the history of ideas, theology, religious history, medicine and its history, political theory, jurisprudence, literary history, and the rules of evidence as they pertain to expert testimony. He is familiar with the resources of these many disciplines and demonstrates a remarkable ability to have them 'play' together, the way a philharmonic conductor leads the different sections of an orchestra. This is an intellectual symphony of a book.
--Dennis Owens (Appellate Practice Journal and Update )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (January 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674952901
• ISBN-13: 978-0674952904
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,257,405 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for the Non-Specialist Reader, September 29, 2001

By	Ricky Hunter (New York City, NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Daniel N. Robinson's Wild Beasts and Idle Humours (The Insanity Defense from Antiquity to the Present) sounds and looks more fun than it actually will be for the average reader without a sure grounding in legal, philosophical and psychological theory and history. The author does indeed cover the period from antiquity to the present, as per the sub-title, and provides many interesting ideas along the way, taking a rather conservative approach, but there are also many cases and people just dropped into the book without any explanation on the assumption that the reader will be familiar with all of these legal cases and philosophers from the past two centuries. A grounding in classical and medieval history (with luck I did have that) will help the reader manage the first part of the book. For students of legal history, this book could prove quite interesting and, perhaps, invaluable as the author makes a clever attempt to bring ideas of insanity as far back as the writings of Homer and Hesiod. For this poor soul, the book was a struggle with a few rewards along the way.