{"id":{"repo_id":"toronto-retro","oai_identifier":"oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/43481"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/toronto-retro/oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/43481","repository":{"repo_id":"toronto-retro","name":"University of Toronto","base_url":"https://utoronto.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Sin and Sanity in Nineteenth-century America","abstract":"Sin and Sanity in Nineteenth-Century America is an intellectual and cultural history of moral insanity in America. It argues that moral insanity functioned as a naturalized description of the bound will, as a negotition between theology and the scientific 'study of man', and as a critique of the selfishness of diseased society. This dissertation explores the writings of nineteenth-century alienists, trial transcripts, gallows sermons, newspaper coverage of sensational trials, an inmate literary magazine, and the American Journal of Insanity. It argues that moral insanity as a concept functioned not, as sometimes argued, as a secularization of the concept of sin, but as an attempt to sacralize society and, in particular, the law. I have employed the term politicization of grace to describe the complex ways in which the movement to reform the insanity defence to include diseases of the volition was understood in the context of broader religious debates about the self, sin, responsibility, and punishment.","abstract_html":"Sin and Sanity in Nineteenth-Century America is an intellectual and cultural history of moral insanity in America. It argues that moral insanity functioned as a naturalized description of the bound will, as a negotition between theology and the scientific 'study of man', and as a critique of the selfishness of diseased society. This dissertation explores the writings of nineteenth-century alienists, trial transcripts, gallows sermons, newspaper coverage of sensational trials, an inmate literary magazine, and the American Journal of Insanity. It argues that moral insanity as a concept functioned not, as sometimes argued, as a secularization of the concept of sin, but as an attempt to sacralize society and, in particular, the law. I have employed the term politicization of grace to describe the complex ways in which the movement to reform the insanity defence to include diseases of the volition was understood in the context of broader religious debates about the self, sin, responsibility, and punishment.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Boyer, Jodie"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Religion, Study of","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Klassen, Pamela"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-11","date_published":"2013-11","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:28:22Z","subjects":["moral insanity","sin","mental health","19th century religion","asylum","freedom","will","reason"],"languages":["en_ca"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1807/43481","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Klassen, Pamela"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Religion, Study of"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Boyer, Jodie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2013-11"]},{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-01-07T16:21:09Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["WITHHELD_TWO_YEAR","2014-01-07T16:21:09Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013-11"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["moral insanity","sin","mental health","19th century religion","asylum","freedom","will","reason"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_ca"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1807/43481"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Sin and Sanity in Nineteenth-Century America is an intellectual and cultural history of moral insanity in America. It argues that moral insanity functioned as a naturalized description of the bound will, as a negotition between theology and the scientific 'study of man', and as a critique of the selfishness of diseased society. This dissertation explores the writings of nineteenth-century alienists, trial transcripts, gallows sermons, newspaper coverage of sensational trials, an inmate literary magazine, and the American Journal of Insanity. It argues that moral insanity as a concept functioned not, as sometimes argued, as a secularization of the concept of sin, but as an attempt to sacralize society and, in particular, the law. 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It argues that moral insanity functioned as a naturalized description of the bound will, as a negotition between theology and the scientific 'study of man', and as a critique of the selfishness of diseased society. This dissertation explores the writings of nineteenth-century alienists, trial transcripts, gallows sermons, newspaper coverage of sensational trials, an inmate literary magazine, and the American Journal of Insanity. It argues that moral insanity as a concept functioned not, as sometimes argued, as a secularization of the concept of sin, but as an attempt to sacralize society and, in particular, the law. 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