The article explores the meanings of paranoia and its use as a disease category. Juliano Moreira and Afrânio Peixoto's article "A paranoia e as síndromes paranoides" is used to show how these two scientists differentiated between this clinical construct and dementia praecox. Delineating the diagnostic boundaries of "legitimate" paranoia was their way of demarcating their theoretical stances and their alignment with Kraepelin, thereby justifying the scientific stance that they deemed essential to making Brazilian psychiatry modern. The article also discusses aspects of the conceptual history of paranoia (its relation to personality) in terms of the theoretical references used by the Brazilian authors of the article.
history of paranoia; Juliano Moreira; Afrânio Peixoto; Emil Kraepelin; Hospício Nacional dos Alienados; Brazil
