It reminds me of René Descartes, the renowned 17th-century French philosopher, every time I come across a psychotic being greeted with the derision and loathing that is totally unmerited and unwarranted. Known for his famous statement, "I think, therefore I am", Descartes ventured to propose that brute animals are mere automata devoid of a 'soul' that can think and reason. The premise, though later refuted by most philosophers, had far-reaching implications on the perception of (and thus the treatment imparted to) brute animals.
Quite predictably, this concept also encroached upon the territory of mentally ill individuals. While I would like to believe that today, in the light of scientific reasoning, we have grown beyond this potentially disastrous premise for brutes–the situation with the mentally ill is sadly little better. Such is the magnitude of the problem of human rights…
