Psychiatry and the Human Condition: A Scientific Biography of Silvano Arieti (1914-1981)

«Throughout his professional life, Silvano Arieti carried out a study of schizophrenia, work that received wide recognition. He was more than a famous psychiatrist, awarded the National Book Award for the second edition of Interpretation of Schizophrenia, published in 1974. He was a profound thinker who promoted an original epistemological approach to the scientific study of human beings. For Arieti, psychiatry was a thorough investigation of the human condition, a condition characterized by a basic dialectic of similarity and difference. In this way, Arieti conceived the exploration of mental illness as a means to understand that “the other” actually resembles ourselves and is a constituent part of our identity.»
The books published in the Springer Biographies tell of the life and work of scholars, innovators, and pioneers in all fields of learning and throughout the ages. Prominent scientists and philosophers will feature, but so too will lesser known personalities whose significant contributions deserve greater recognition and whose remarkable life stories will stir and motivate readers. Authored by historians and other academic writers, the volumes describe and analyse the main achievements of their subjects in a manner accessible to non-specialists, interweaving these with salient aspects of the
protagonists’ personal lives. Autobiographies and memoirs also fall into the scope of the series.
Revised version of a translation from the Italian language edition: “La forza delle idee. Silvano Arieti:una biografia 1914-1981” by Roberta Passion