![Sample our Humanities journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5939/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Humanities.jpg"})
Abstract
“Religion and psychopathology” is a phrase of hidden tensions, epistemological clashes, and a complex historical aetiology. Contemporary theory and research attempt to sort out the relation between the two, but overlooked, unseen, and unappreciated is the historical context that shapes inquiry. It is only at the end of the nineteenth century that religion and psychopathology can be juxtapositioned. This paper examines the prehistory of “religion and psychopathology”, tracing the emergence of “psycho” as an entity distinct from religious encumbrances and, equally important, its scientific legitimisation. It is only after both have been accomplished that psychopathology becomes possible. The history of hypnosis offers unique insight into how this happened.