Editing Sanity (section)

{{Short description|Soundness, rationality and healthiness of the mind}}
{{Other uses}}
{{redirect|Sound mind|the phrase "sound mind in a sound body"|Mens sana in corpore sano{{!}}''Mens sana in corpore sano''}}

'''Sanity''' (from {{langx|la|sānitās}}) refers to the soundness, [[rationality]], and [[Mental health|health of the human mind]], as opposed to [[insanity]]. A person is sane if they are rational. In [[modern society]], the term has become exclusively [[synonym]]ous with '''''compos mentis''''' ({{langx|la|compos|4=having mastery of|links=no}} and {{langx|la|mentis|4=mind|links=no}}). The contrast is ''[[non compos mentis]]'', or [[insanity]]. According to the writer [[G. K. Chesterton]],<ref>Chesterton, G. K. 2002. ''The Outline of Sanity''. IHS Press</ref> sanity involves wholeness, whereas insanity implies narrowness and brokenness.

A sane mind is nowadays considered healthy both in its analytical (once called ''rational'') and emotional aspects.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Steven W.|author2=Antoine Bechara|author3=Hanna Damasio|author4=Daniel Tranel|author5=Antonio R. Damasio|title=Impairment of social and moral behavior related to early damage in human prefrontal cortex|journal=Nature Neuroscience|date=1999|volume=2|issue=11|pages=1032–7|doi=10.1038/14833|pmid=10526345|s2cid=204990285|url=http://saki.caltech.edu/biCNS217/PDFs/Anderson1999.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518134726/http://saki.caltech.edu/biCNS217/PDFs/Anderson1999.pdf|archive-date=2014-05-18}}</ref>