View source for Idiot

{{Short description|Person of low intelligence}}
{{Redirect|Dullard|other uses|Idiot (disambiguation)|and|Dullard (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Larock-The Idiot.jpg|thumb|''The Idiot'' by [[Evert Larock]] (1892)]]
{{pp-semi-vandalism|small=yes}}

An '''idiot''', in modern use, is a stupid or foolish person.

"Idiot" was formerly a technical term in legal and [[Psychiatry|psychiatric]] contexts for some kinds of profound [[intellectual disability]] where the mental age is two years or less, and the person cannot guard themself against common physical dangers. The term was gradually replaced by "profound mental retardation", which has since been [[Euphemism#Lifespan|replaced]] by other terms.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/moron-idiot-imbecile-offensive-history|title=The Clinical History of 'Moron,' 'Idiot,' and 'Imbecile'|publisher=merriam-webster.com}}</ref> Along with terms like [[Moron (psychology)|moron]], [[Intellectual disability#Terminology|imbecile]], [[Retard (pejorative)|retard]] and [[cretinism|cretin]], its use to describe people with mental disabilities is considered archaic and offensive.<ref name="oed"/> [[Moral idiocy]] refers to a moral disability.

==Etymology==
The word "idiot" ultimately comes from the [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] noun {{lang|grc|[[wikt:ἰδιώτης|ἰδιώτης]]}} ''idiōtēs'' 'a private person, individual' (as opposed to the state), 'a [[private citizen]]' (as opposed to someone with a political office), 'a common man', 'a person lacking professional skill, layman', later 'unskilled', 'ignorant', derived from the adjective {{lang|grc|ἴδιος}} ''idios'' 'personal' (not public, not shared).<ref>J. Diggle, ed., ''The Cambridge Greek Lexicon'', 2021, {{isbn|9780521826808}}, ''s.v.'', p. 702</ref><ref name="lsj">Liddell-Scott-Jones ''[[A Greek–English Lexicon]]'', ''s.v.'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Di%29diw%2Fths {{lang|grc|ἰδιώτης}}] and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Di%29%2Fdios {{lang|grc|ἴδιος}}].</ref> In [[Latin]], ''idiota'' was borrowed in the meaning 'uneducated', 'ignorant', 'common',<ref>''[[A Latin Dictionary]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Didiota ''s.v.'']</ref> and in [[Late Latin]] came to mean 'crude, illiterate, ignorant'.<ref>du Cange, ''[[Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis]]'', ''[http://ducange.enc.sorbonne.fr/idiota?clear=1 s.v.]''</ref> In [[French language|French]], it kept the meaning of 'illiterate', 'ignorant', and added the meaning 'stupid' in the 13th century.<ref>''[[Trésor de la langue française informatisé]]'', ''s.v.''</ref> In English, it added the meaning 'mentally deficient' in the 14th century.<ref name="oed"/>

Many political commentators, starting as early as 1856, have interpreted the word "idiot" as reflecting the Ancient Athenians' attitudes to civic participation and private life, combining the ancient meaning of 'private citizen' with the modern meaning 'fool' to conclude that the Greeks used the word to say that it is selfish and foolish not to participate in public life.<ref>
a. R.L. Gibson (Louisiana), "Notes of European Travel--France", ''De Bow's Review'' '''21''' (3rd series):1:375-405 (1856), [https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=8ikKAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=GBS.PA389 p. 389]
<br />b. ''The Sanitary Era'' '''6''':117:12 (October 1892), New York, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GA-3Wt1T1ZcC&pg=PA210 p. 210]
<br />c. Bouck White, ''The Free City: A Book of Neighborhood'', 1919, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-mtJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA53 p. 53]
<br />d. John Robertson Macarthur, ''Ancient Greece in Modern America'', 1943, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-oIJAQAAIAAJ&q=(idiot%7Cidiotic%7Cidiocy)+(athenian+%7C+greek)+(democracy+%7C+participating+%7C+voting) p. 195]
<br />e. {{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/opinion/trump-and-the-true-meaning-of-idiot.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/opinion/trump-and-the-true-meaning-of-idiot.html |archive-date=2022-01-03 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Trump and the True Meaning of 'Idiot'|last=Anthamatten|first=Eric|date=2017-06-12|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-06-26|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}
<br />f. {{cite journal |last1=Parker |first1=Walter C. |title=Teaching against Idiocy |journal=Phi Delta Kappan |date=January 1, 2005 |volume=86 |issue=5 |pages=344–351 |doi=10.1177/003172170508600504 |s2cid=144893136 |language=en}}
</ref> But this is not how the Greeks used the word.

It is certainly true that the Greeks valued civic participation and criticized non-participation. [[Thucydides]] quotes [[Pericles' Funeral Oration]] as saying: "[we] regard... him who takes no part in these [public] duties not as unambitious but as useless" ({{langx|grc|τόν τε μηδὲν τῶνδε μετέχοντα οὐκ ἀπράγμονα, ἀλλ᾽ ἀχρεῖον νομίζομεν}}).<ref>Thucydides, ''[[The Peloponnesian War]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Thuc.+2.40&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0199 Thuc. 2.40]</ref> However, neither he nor any other ancient author uses the word "idiot" to describe non-participants, or in a derogatory sense; its most common use was simply a private citizen or amateur as opposed to a government official, professional, or expert.<ref>Matthew Landauer, "The ''Idiōtēs'' and the Tyrant: Two Faces of Unaccountability in Democratic Athens", ''Political Theory'' '''42''':2:139-166 (April 2014), {{JSTOR|24571390}}, p. 145</ref> The derogatory sense came centuries later, and was unrelated to the political meaning.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sparkes |first1=A. W. |title=Idiots, ancient and modern |journal=Australian Journal of Political Science |date=1988 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=101–102 |doi=10.1080/00323268808402051}}</ref><ref name="lsj"/><ref name="oed">''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', [http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/91049 ''s.v.'']</ref>

== Disability and early classification and nomenclature==
In 19th- and early 20th-century medicine and psychology, an "idiot" was a person with a very profound [[intellectual disability]], being diagnosed with "idiocy". In the early 1900s, Dr. [[Henry H. Goddard]] proposed a classification system for intellectual disability based on the [[Binet-Simon scale|Binet-Simon]] concept of [[mental age]]. Individuals with the lowest mental age level (less than three years) were identified as ''idiots''; ''imbeciles'' had a mental age of three to seven years, and ''morons'' had a mental age of seven to ten years.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Zaretsky |first1=Herbert H. |last2=Richter |first2=Edwin F. |last3=Eisenberg |first3=Myron G. |title=Medical aspects of disability: a handbook for the rehabilitation professional |edition=third edition, illustrated |publisher=Springer Publishing Company |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8261-7973-9 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7TZGYRu-_Y4C&pg=PA346 346] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7TZGYRu-_Y4C}}.</ref> The term "idiot" was used to refer to people having an IQ below 30.<ref>{{Citation |last=Rapley |first=Mark |title=The Social Construction of Intellectual Disability |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-00529-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KdQS5Z_mGbQC&pg=PA32 32] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdQS5Z_mGbQC}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Cruz |first1=Isagani A. |last2=Quaison |first2=Camilo D. |title=Correct Choice of Words' : English Grammar Series for Filipino Lawyers |edition=2003 |publisher=Rex Bookstore, Inc. |isbn=978-971-23-3686-7 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=I2FnOYgu6IsC&pg=PA444 444–445] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2FnOYgu6IsC |year=2003}}.</ref> IQ, or [[intelligence quotient]], was originally determined by dividing a person's mental age, as determined by standardized tests, by their actual age. The concept of mental age has fallen into disfavor, though, and IQ is now determined on the basis of statistical distributions.<ref>{{cite book|author=Vibeke Grover Aukrust|title=Learning and Cognition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oE-3bZik8rQC|year=2011|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-0-12-381438-8|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oE-3bZik8rQC&pg=PA95 95–96]}}</ref>

In the obsolete medical classification ([[International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems|ICD-9]], 1977), these people were said to have "profound [[intellectual disability|mental retardation]]" or "profound mental subnormality" with IQ under 20.<ref name="ICD9-1977">{{cite book |author=World Health Organization |author-link=World Health Organization |title=Manual of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries, and Causes of Death |url=http://psychiatr.ru/download/1480?view=1&name=1336.pdf |location=Jeneva |page=213 |date=1977 |volume=1}}</ref>

== Regional law ==
{{Update|section|date=December 2011}}

=== United States ===
Until 2007, the [[California Penal Code]] Section 26 stated that "Idiots" were one of six types of people who are not capable of committing crimes. In 2007 the code was amended to read "persons who are mentally incapacitated."<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=25-29 |title = Penal Code section 25-29 |publisher = State of California |access-date = 2007-09-21 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090627102520/http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=25-29 |archive-date = 2009-06-27}}</ref> In 2008, Iowa voters passed a measure replacing "idiot, or insane person" in the State's constitution with "person adjudged mentally incompetent."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1856820-2,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109081412/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1856820-2,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 9, 2008 |title=Ballot Initiatives: No to Gay Marriage, Anti-Abortion Measures|publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=5 November 2008 |access-date=2009-02-26 | first=Tiffany | last=Sharples}}</ref>

In the [[constitution]] of several U.S. states, "idiots" do not have the right to vote:

* Kentucky Section 145<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/legresou/constitu/145.htm|title=Kentucky Section 145|website=state.ky.us|access-date=17 December 2018|archive-date=12 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712144156/http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/legresou/constitu/145.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Mississippi Article 12, Section 241<ref>[http://www.sos.state.ms.us/ed_pubs/constitution/constitution.asp Mississippi Constitution of the State of Mississippi] See Article 12, Section 241</ref>
* Ohio Article V, Section 6<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=5&Section=06|title=Ohio Constitution, Article V, Section 6|website=www.legislature.ohio.gov|access-date=17 December 2018}}</ref>

The constitution of the state of Arkansas was amended in the general election of 2008 to, among other things, repeal a provision (Article 3, Section 5) which had until its repeal prohibited "idiots or insane persons" from voting.<ref>[http://www.votesmart.org/election_ballot_measures_detail.php?ballot_id=64 Arkansas Ballot Measures: An Amendment Concerning Voting, Qualifications of Voters and Election Officers, and the Time of Holding General Elections (Amendment 1) : For the November 4, 2008 General Election], [http://www.votesmart.org votesmart.org].</ref>

== In literature ==
A few authors have used "idiot" characters in novels, plays and poetry. Often these characters are used to highlight or indicate something else ([[allegory]]). Examples of such usage are [[William Faulkner]]'s ''[[The Sound and the Fury]]'', [[Daphne du Maurier]]'s ''[[Rebecca (novel)|Rebecca]]'' and [[William Wordsworth]]'s ''[[The Idiot Boy]]''. Idiot characters in literature are often confused with or subsumed within mad or lunatic characters. The most common intersection between these two categories of mental impairment occurs in the polemic surrounding [[Edmund (King Lear)|Edmund]] from [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[King Lear]]''.

In [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]]'s novel ''[[The Idiot]]'' the title refers to the central character [[Prince Myshkin]], a man whose innocence, kindness and humility, combined with his occasional epileptic symptoms, cause many in the corrupt, egoistic culture around him to mistakenly assume that he lacks intelligence. In ''[[The Antichrist (book)|The Antichrist]]'', [[Friedrich Nietzsche|Nietzsche]] applies the word "idiot" to [[Jesus]] in a comparable fashion, almost certainly in an allusion to Dostoevsky's use of the word:<ref>Michael Tanner and R.J. Hollingdale (1990). ''Glossary of Names in Nietzsche's "The Antichrist"''. Penguin Books. p 200</ref> "One has to regret that no Dostoevsky lived in the neighbourhood of this most interesting ''décadent''; I mean someone who could feel the thrilling fascination of such a combination of the sublime, the sick and the childish."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nietzsche |first1=Friedrich |title=The Antichrist|date=1990 |publisher=Penguin Books |page=153 (§ 31)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Friedrich |last=Nietzsche |title=The Antichrist |author-link=Friedrich Nietzsche |year=1895 |url=http://www.handprint.com/SC/NIE/antich.html |quote=To make a hero of Jesus! And even more, what a misunderstanding is the word 'genius'! Our whole concept, our cultural concept, of 'spirit' has no meaning whatever in the world in which Jesus lives. Spoken with the precision of a physiologist, even an entirely different word would be yet more fitting here—the word idiot. |access-date=2007-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070923003622/http://www.handprint.com/SC/NIE/antich.html |archive-date=2007-09-23 |url-status=dead}}<br/>
(§ 29, partially quoted here, contains three words that were suppressed by Nietzsche's sister when she published The Antichrist in 1895. The words are: 'das Wort Idiot,' translated here as 'the word idiot'. They were not made public until 1931, by Josef Hofmiller. [[H.L. Mencken]]'s 1920 translation does not contain these words.)</ref>

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Insanity |volume=14 |pages=597–618}} <!-- Authorities.—Sir J. B. Tuke, Dictionary of Psychological Medicine, (London and Philadelphia, 1892); W. P. Letchworth, The Insane in Foreign Countries (New York, 1889); Care and Treatment of Epileptics (New York, 1900); F. Peterson, Mental Diseases (Philadelphia, 1899); "Annual Address to the American Medico-Psychological Association," Proceedings (1899). --> 
* {{cite Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=Mental Pathology |volume=11 |first=Alexander |last=Pilcz}}

==External links==
{{AmCyc Poster|Idiocy}}
*{{Wiktionary-inline}}
*{{Wikiquote-inline}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Obsolete medical terms]]
[[Category:Slurs related to low intelligence| ]]
[[Category:Obsolete terms for mental disorders]]
[[Category:Pejorative terms for people with disabilities]]
[[Category:Intellectual disability]]