Latin words with the meaning of insanity: distinguishing synonyms

The aim of the article is to clarify the functional and semantic differences between synonyms with the meaning of “madness” in the Latin language: dementia, amentia, insania, furor. The material comprised selected con texts from the works of ancient authors, mainly Cicero (Tusculanae Disputationes) and Seneca (Epistulae Morales adLucilium, De Ira), who developed this topic most comprehensively. It was established that the word insania can be used as a medical and philosophical term. In Stoic philosophy, insania is the antonym for the concept of sapien-tia, and its internal form is the basis of the widely used extended metaphor “ignorance is madness (unhealthiness), philosophy is treatment”. The words dementia, amentia and furor did not acquire terminological meaning. The concept of furor corresponds to affect in its modern sense and is included in a broader concept of passion, with anger being one of the forms of its manifestation. In Seneca’s works, the concepts of insania and furor correlate as general and specific, while Cicero only emphasizes their non-identity, without defining their relationship. In the commonly used plain language, furor characterizes the emotional sphere of the object of speech, has ascertaining semantics, and does not contain an evaluative component. The words dementia and amentia, on the contrary, are used primarily as a means of assessing the situation described by the speaker. Emotional evaluation (disapproval) is more associated with the word amentia, while rational evaluation (inconsistency with common sense) is associated with the word dementia.