In Moby-Dick; or, the Whale (1851), Herman Melville writes that “there is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of man.” Hegel gives a sophisticated explanation of this fact, namely, that proper madness (der Wahn) is a peculiarly human condition. This argument is developed in the context of the Anthropology’s broader theory of the feeling soul (Die fühlende Seele: §§403–10).1 This prominently includes an explanation of the endogenous transformation of the sentient organism into bodily self-awareness, a change which Hegel calls the “awakening” of the sentient soul (die empfindende Seele) to the feeling of self (Selbstgefühl: §407).2 The active condition of an individual capable of feeling – no longer capable only of sentience3 – implies the capacity for self-feeling. This is because the very activity of feeling consists of a permanent leading back of sensations (impressions, affections) toward a center.