Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Rethinking the History, Science, and Meaning of Auditory Hallucination

by Daniel B. Smith

A history of auditory hallucination traces the medical community's understanding and treatment of the phenomenon throughout the ages while drawing on literary, psychological, and anthropological perspectives in order to shed light on how patients have managed and even found inspiration from related disorders.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Science, History, Philosophy, Mental Health, Mental Illness

272 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2007

About the author

Daniel Smith is the author of "Muses, Madmen, and Prophets" and a contributor to numerous publications, including The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, and Slate.

Reviews

[Jay Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this broad view of the phenomenon of voice-hearing (which is accompanied by a number of famous case histories - Socrates, Joan of Arc, William Blake), but feel it could have been so much more. It is short on depth and detail. I would have liked to have read about other, less famous, examples, about the variety of theories that both professionals and hearers provide, but most of all I would have liked a more lucid and empathetic account of what it is actually like to hear voices. The examples provided simply do not do justice to the experience, I feel, or simply do not communicate it well enough, which is ironic, given the subject matter. That said, reading this book has provided me with the motivation to explore the subject further and to read more widely in the search for a greater approximation of this peculiar human condition.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

It appears the voices I've been hearing all my life aren't that unusual. Oh, I just hear someone calling my name, and to tell the truth it hasn't happened in a while, but it used to be disconcerting. I mean, you're walking down the street, (or, what's worse, standing in an otherwise empty room,) you hear your name and turn around, and there's no one there, or no one that you know, anyway. And not a voice inside your head, the voice comes from the outside, and is very real. Well, something like 57% of people interviewed have had this type of auditory hallucination at one time or another. This is nothing compared to Joan of Arc, of course, who had an on-going conversation with a few saints; or dear Allen Ginsberg who, after an afternoon of masturbating on his couch, heard William Blake reciting. Do you understand that? Allen was masturbating, not Blake.

What's that...?

The big understanding for me is that the brain is the locus of - everything. Cut your finger and it's the brain that feels the pain, not the finger. It's a good buddhist teaching.

Anyway, considering the title I thought I'd be in for a more tabloid type read, but the author doesn't get too excited, and though not clinical it's not the kind of stuff you just have to share with the guy sitting next to you on the bus. Well, on my bus, the guy sitting next to me is usually having auditory hallucinations of his own, especially between the King Co. Jail and the Harborview ER.

This was a moderately interesting read by an author who was trying to understand his father's mental illness, and came to grips with the idea that his father, though batty, should have been treated more kindly. I couldn't agree more.

Say what...?

[Jackson Burnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gets five stars only because a book can't be rated with four and a half at goodreads. Muses, Madmen, and Prophets is fascinating. It's well written and seems well researched. The conclusion is not particularly satisfying because auditory hallucinations remain such a mystery. The reader is left to draw the reader's own conclusion, and that's OK. It's a non-fiction book that does not take a linear approach to its subject. It's worth the time it takes to read.

[Eva Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've finished this week that came into being as the self-reported result of the author's needing to come to terms with his father's experience. Both books have by turns benefited and suffered from their authors' source of inspiration. In the case of this book, it appears Smith's father had a terrible experience with auditory hallucinations and was tormented by them his entire life. Not tormented in the sense that he couldn't escape them, they were persecutory, etc, but tormented because he felt they were shameful and a harbinger of coming insanity that threatened to destroy the life he had built.

None of that came to pass, and subsequently Smith discovered his grandfather also heard voices, but had come terms with the experience early in life and found it benign as well as a source of insight. Apparently, the contradictory experiences of his male ancestors sent Smith in search of the meaning/source/history of voice-hearing, to see how seemingly sane individuals understand their experience.

A sound-enough starting point, but it disintegrates from there. It left me with the feeling of reading someone's not-quite-complete college thesis, with the historical chapters about Socrates and Joan of Arc standing well on their own, but not really integrated with the rest of the book. Additionally, the conclusion was a tacked-on bit of insignificance, leaving me hanging without the various threads the author traced tied together in any meaningful way. To paraphrase another reviewer, he basically concludes that some people who hear voices are insane, but not all are, so maybe we shouldn't lump everyone together. In other words, "give ethereal, inspirational voices a chance".

That said, the individual chapters themselves provide an interesting read and some food for thought, and the writing is quite solid despite the lack of an overall thesis for it to hang on.

[DilanAc · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am disappointed in this book. Daniel Smith is a fine writer but he really does not tackle auditory hallucinations. He has a whole chapter on the history of Socrates which consists of approximately two sentences on Socrates's voice hearing. The same of Saint Joan of Arc. Evidently Smith's father suffered from auditory hallucinations so perhaps this topic was too close to home for Smith to approach it in any sort of interesting, thorough, contemporary manner.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject of whether hearing voices is always pathological or not is very interesting, and in some instances this book was very engaging. But most of the time reading it was dull and poorly focused. The chapter I enjoyed the most The Tyranny of Meaning, where we actually get to hear about the differing viewpoints within modern psychology, both from professionals and the voice hearers themselves. And the history of the term "hallucination" and how it shaped the way we view people who hear voices was enlightening. But I felt the chapters on Socrates and Joan of Arc were unnecessary and didn't mesh well with the rest of the book, they were really besides the point. And as others have mentioned, the conclusion (while I agree with it) was weak. The book made use of many other more thorough sources that are probably more useful to readers interested in exploring the issues addressed in this book further.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Offered such promise but was unfortunatley a let down. I read this book and expected to come away with a better understaning of voice-hearing but instead received a short history lesson on past voice-hearers such as Joan of Arc. While I appreciate the author's attempt to pull direct experiences into the book he fell short of pulling everything together into a cohesive message. The organization of the book was also frustrating. The chapters did not flow and I found it difficult to finish (it took me almost a month to finally plod through it). Yet - maybe that was the point Smith was trying to make. Voice-hearing still isn't well understood and people who experience it are often schizophrenic. If he was trying to mimic schizophrenia then job well done.

[Katie Marquette · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting topic to be sure, but Smith's personal anecdotes and references to his father's auditory hallucinations can seem intrusive and unnecessary. Smith does a fine job, however, of pointing out the contradictions inherent in the speech we often use to describe 'auditory hallucinations.' The word 'hallucination' is so loaded - it seems to already define hearing voices as something false and dangerous. However, many people who have heard voices (including many of our ancient heroes/prophets: Moses, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Samuel, the heroes of the Illiad and the Odyssey, etc.) claim to be hearing the voice of God. Are these people visionaries or madmen? Who's to say? Interesting and difficult questions - none of which Smith tries to answer with much certainty.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Auditory hallucination is an inherently interesting topic, so this book was an easy read. However, I wished the author could have organized his flow of ideas better. It was sort of a mish-mash of psychology, history and philosophy, which wasn't tied together very well.

And his conclusion/thesis was very lame. He basically ending the book saying (to paraphrase), "A handful of hallucinatory people throughout history have been worth listening to, so you should always pay attention to people who appear crazy."

But again, the content of the book was still very interesting, and it's definitely worth reading.

[Lise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like Consciousness: A Very Short Introduction, this book left me convinced that mind investigating mind is doomed to become lost in recursion and confusion. In this book, however, the situation may have been improved if the author had established some working definitions early on and stuck with them.

Some interesting passages and observations, some curious facts, but no real substance to speak of. I'm still not really sure of what 'hearing voices' means, or how common it is in the population as a whole.

[Nubia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Through research on philosophy, religion, and peronal story, Daniel Smith give us an idea of what "the voices" mean for different people. Voices are not necessarily pathological.
not very organized, but fair, with good evidence of research.

A traves de la investigacion cientifica, filosofica, la historia de las naciones y la historia personal Daniel Smith nos da una idea de los que "las voces " signifan para diferentes personas. Las voces no son necesariamente patologicas. El libro no esta muy bien irganizado, pero es bueno y presenta evidencia de las fuentes de investigacion.

[Meadow · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am unsure why there are so many raving reviews of this book. I was drawn to it initially, because I currently work with adults diagnosed with schizophrenia and was looking for an alternative, non-Western perspective on the schizophrenic mind and its link to creativity and prophecy, etc. However, I quickly got the feeling that the author was a good writer who was just regurgitating other people's research and experience. I didn't glean anything from it, so disappointing!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fascinating. The talk of how psychiatry came to be and why it began labeling anyone who heard voices as "mentally ill" was very interesting-and scary. While I did really enjoy all the historical evidence of people who heard voices and were not "sick" in any way-especially Socrates-I wish the book had gone into more modern examples, perhaps talked about some other cultures outside the Western Hemisphere that often believe voice-hearing to be a normal thing.

[Nathan Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has lots of interesting stuff in it, but I think the "rethinking" in the title is kind of presumptuous. While he dissents from mainstream, he does so with ideas that aren't very fresh. It's really kind of a dumbed down, padded out version of the first lecture in William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly what I was expecting but interesting nonetheless. Less science than advertised, more of an exploration of the cultural implications of voice-hearing. A bit redundant at times, but ultimately the author makes a compelling case for re-thinking how mental illness is diagnosed.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book alternated between fascinating and kinda boring. I think the author lacked focus and direction, and so the book did not have a specific enough purpose to be as good as it could have been.

[Barbara Carder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Smith's book included a discussion of Daniel Paul Schreber's [1842-1911] first-person account of his mental illness in 'Memoirs of My Nervous Illness' [1903] whose far-ranging impact has been described this way: "Schreber’s memoirs should be mandatory reading for all those who believe that being mentally ill always precludes sound decision making." So easy to fix on symptoms and shut down hope for sufferers. The struggle to regain his freedom from involuntary confinement, his parallel mental abilities, his effect on Freud, Jung, etc. ~ ~ ~ to me, elucidates the role the wider society plays in the way he distorted, played with and wrestled down his problems. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

[Jeni Ferret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again another pop sci book that started off firing on all cylinders and then left me bereft. A good description and argument for why voice hearing might not always be a negative or psychotic feature, followed by three “case studies” of Socrates, Joan of Arc, and Paul Schreber. While I do understand why the author included these, the evidence for the three and especially linking them together or into the larger theme of the novel is very loose. It’s basically him saying, here’s three people you may have heard of that have heard voices. While I was excited to read the book through the first few chapters, by the end I found myself begging for the end and wondering what was the actual point of it all other than to just generate sympathy for those who may have/heard voices.

[TamáS Varga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terrible, but it is more of an overview of a very interesting idea, not so revolutionary as the Origin of Conscciousness.
Reminded me of the importance of tuning into the sounds / hidden silence around me, instead of the stream of thoughts. In other words try to listen to a very quiet voice. It can be a gateway into now (Tolle) For that alone it was worth to read it.
Many famous and important people, and especiall saints have all been voice hearers, yet today we consider people who hear voices crazy.

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastically intriguing book on auditory hallucinations. I found this easy to read, well researched and documented, and full of relevant examples. Daniel B Smith has a very humanistic way of writing that draws the reader in. Psychology, neurology and mental illness are subjects of great interest to me. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in auditory hallucinations. One tiny criticism is that the chapter on Socrates was a little too long and went a bit too much into Greek history. Otherwise fabulous! 👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏

[Grant DeArmitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this thinking it was a follow-up to Julian Jaynes's 'Origin of Consciousness,' and even thougb it wasn't that, it still touched on a lot of the same topics and, honestly, was a much easier read. Smith is an excellent historian with a talent for eliciting empathy from a reader, especially when you learn the personal connection he has with this topic. Still, this book's point isn't to shove theories down your throat - it's to ask questions where others haven't, and even if the (well-cited!) statistics in this book don't stick with you, you'll come away with a slightly more open mind.

[Jan46 · Rating 4 out of 5]

So glad I decided to finally read non-fiction again! It was fascinating to read how spiritual voice hearing and schizophrenia/psychosis can be. There’s so much stigma behind voice hearing that it was nice to read a book where it doesn’t show any judgement towards it. Reading the science behind voice hearing was very interesting as well and I liked reading the author’s personal anecdotes with his father. This book could’ve been rated higher but I started to lose interest towards the end with the deep dive into religion and Greek myths but overall I really enjoyed this read

[Alyssa Fields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting! And validating haha! 😂

[Eric Sbar · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a book without direction based on flimsy theories

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too technical for me, not very engaging. The history chapters at the end were a better read, but got away from the main topic of the book.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've flipped through it and checked the parts listed under Poetry in the index. One thing it suggests is that poetry used to be written more viscerally and is now more of an intellectual act, and that this shift may explain a decrease in satisfaction with much of contemporary poetry. An arguable point, but one worth considering when one is bland-sided by yet another lump of Portentous Hush (google Joseph Salemi on that.)

An alternately interesting and tedious overview of auditory "hallucinations". I put hallucinations in quotes because the book makes the point that such terminology automatically puts hearing voices into pathology, effectively closing off consideration of it as something spiritual. For instance, there are some who best adapt to voice-hearing not by being drugged into a stupor not to hear them, but by integrating them into their daily life and mindset. The most interesting chapter for me was Enigmatical Dictation, which discussed the poets William Blake, Theodore Roethke and A.E. Housman, among others. I probably found it to be the most interesting because it was the chapter I could most identify with personally (not because I hear voices, which I don't, but because of what it says about inspiration.) The next most interesting chapters were those which discussed religious and mystical participants in voice-hearing. Interspersed throughout the book are Interludes which discuss the author's personal quest of trying to understand the phenomenon of his father's voices.

The most tedious chapter for me was The Tyranny of Meaning which focused on correctly defining voice-hearing. There was more than I cared to know about the minutiae of how the terms have evolved.

Curously, the elephant in the room, the book and movie "A Beautiful Mind" about John Nash, which is probably one of the most recent popular examples of this phenomenon, are not brought up at all.

All in all, an interesting book, though it was slow-going at times.

[Tudor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decently well written haphazard account of the phenomenon of (verbal) auditory hallucinations, or "hearing voices." Not very well organized and he does not so much attempt to follow a thesis but present motives to dissent from the psychiatric explanation of this phenomenon. Doesn't really discuss any of the anti-psychatric school, mentions Laing Foucult, and quotes Szasz. He does give some room to the Rosenhan Experiment, but that is not a critique of mental health theory as it is a critique of its application and the mental hospital as a bureaucratic instituion. He seems to want to say that auditory hallucinations are different than mental illness and that the ones heard by schizophrenic patients (and other psychotic diseases) are different in type. His argument is that auditory hallucinations should not be immediately associated with mental illness.

His discussion of Socrate's daimonion is less than convincing. He argues that Socrates was condemned to death because he was introducing new gods into the city but had not properly registered them, by seeking permission from the two legislative bodies. Of course neither apology can really offer an accurate description of the trial, but Smith argues that the three crimes follow from the introduction of the daimonion to the Athenians. Other accounts of the daimonion portray it more as a Platonic thing, as something that brings the Forms into reality. This account would also negate Smith's account of the daimonion as divine voice, it seem it more that Socrates knew the good through the daimonion, i.e. he had access to the Forms. It does not seem very convincing to argue that Socrates herd voices, not because he didn't but because there isn't sufficient proof to draw this conclusion.

[Canard Frère]

Not as audacious as Jaynes' theories on the subject, this book's still a good read, which want us to try to adopt a non (or less) conformist point of view about people who hear voices. The phenomenon may be a plague in a lot of cases, but it seems there's also many people that copes well with it. Some paragraphs seem a little superfluous (the one describing a personal experience in an isolation tank doesn't really seem to demonstrate anything), others, as the one about the history of pathologization, are really interesting.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not very well organized, but is very interesting, and seems to be very well researched. The author makes his baises pretty clear right from the beginning, and then proceeds to give the reader a ton of information. Quite fun. I especially had a good time with the chapters on Socrates and Joan d'Arc as voice-hearers.

[Jessica]

I lack trust that writers in this vein will respect people's unusual experiences and think beyond the narrow limits of psychiatry and biochemistry WITHOUT totally glamorizing mental illness and denying its destructive, painful aspects. So, I'm a little wary..... but intrigued!!!!!!!!