Mind, Modernity, Madness

The third volume of Greenfeld’s study of nationalism, arguing that the major functional mental illnesses — schizophrenia and manic depression — became common in the modern era for a cultural reason: a society that tells each person to choose his own identity, rather than assigning one by birth, imposes a burden some minds cannot carry. She works through comparative epidemiology and historical evidence to argue that the disorders track the spread of that expectation rather than tracking anything biological.

Why it’s on the list: It sits in the Capitalism, Morality, and Culture section, which asks what a market society does to the people inside it — and Greenfeld’s answer is the section’s most uncomfortable one.

Where I saw it: Brendan McCord’s Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, in the section on Capitalism, Morality, and Culture. A structured curriculum shared March 9, 2026 and saved to Kyle’s Apple Note “Books To Read”; the full 211-entry transcription is on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.

Connections

• Culture — the causal variable in Greenfeld’s account.
• Capitalism — the modern order whose psychological cost is the subject.
• The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this came from.