Stigma, creativity, crime, and madness

The paper deals with the notions of stigma as related to crime and madness. It expounds a new personality theory which Is related to the genesis of both crime and madness and presents madness as an incentive to creativity. The notion of existentialistic authenticity is integrated in the processes of creativity. The case of Van Gogh and Artaud illustrates the bifurcation of authentic and inauthentic existence, in the sense that even madness has been utilized by Van Gogh for creativity. His life thus becomes authentic although his art is fuelled by underlying madness.