The psychology of Hamlet : read at the meeting of the Psychological Society of Great Britain, May 1, 1879 / by Mr. Serjeant Cox.
- Edward William Cox
- Date:
- [1878]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The psychology of Hamlet : read at the meeting of the Psychological Society of Great Britain, May 1, 1879 / by Mr. Serjeant Cox. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![subject-matter of all physical science, and banishing a 'priori argument and speculative abstractions, we have begun to build up a real Science of Mind and Soul upon the sure and safe foundation of facts. We look about us to see what is the action of the Mechanism of Man in its normal and its abnormal conditions; what it does; what phenomena it exhibits; how Mind and Soul express themselves out- wardly. Then, putting all these facts together, we are con- fident that we can erect as sound and secure a structure for Psychology as has been erected for the other Sciences by the same process. The purpose of the paper is to employ this modern method of investigation upon the much debated character of Hamlet and see what comes of it—if it may not lead us to something like a solution of the problem, “Madness or no madness ? ” which has hitherto absorbed almost wholly the thoughts and energies of the combatants. The method I suggest is that we should first see what is the mental structure of Hamlet, as shown by his acts and words. Then I think it will be found that this mental structure explains the mystery—without resorting to the strange conclusion that the man who says some of the wisest things that ever were uttered was a lunatic. For remember what madness is. It is disease of the structure of the brain, or of some part of it, causing irregular or incomplete performance of some of its functions. Eccentricity, the result of structure, is not madness, nor allied to madness. If natural mental structure that which was born with him, that which makes him Hamlet and not any other person—will explain his actions in the play, the lunatic theory must be abandoned. Craniology I hold to be an unproved theory. The doctrine of Phrenology, that thp brain is the organ of mind, and that certain parts of the brain have specific mental B 2 [265]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22443988_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
