The concept of hallucination: history and origin

Abstract

In this text a historical analysis of the concept of hallucination is performed. It is argued as hallucinations entered the scene of psychology at the dawn of the twentieth century, given the link between this discipline and psychiatric medicine. The phenomenon of hallucination is then characterized as a “perception without object” or a “false perception” so that it will be considered the counterpart of perception. This characterization involves some difficulties due to the absence of an individuation of the hallucinatory experience to be defined from the perception. I offer some reasons that question this characterization and I pointed as an alternative proposes work of psychiatric phenomenology in the way of studying hallucination.