Editing Sanity (section)

== Law ==
In [[criminal law|criminal]] and [[mental health law]], sanity is a [[legal term]] denoting that an individual is of sound mind and therefore can bear legal [[Moral responsibility|responsibility]] for their [[Action (philosophy)|actions]]. The official legal term is ''compos mentis''. It is generally defined in terms of the [[wikt:lack|absence]] of insanity (''[[non compos mentis]]'').  It is not a [[medical term]], although the opinions of [[Expert witness|medical expert]]s are often important in making a legal [[Case law|decision]] as to whether someone is sane or insane. It is also not the same concept as [[mental illness]].  One can be acting under profound mental illness and yet be sane, and one can also be [[Court order|ruled]] insane without an underlying mental illness.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38179345 |title=West's encyclopedia of American law. Volume 9, S to substance abuse. |date=1998 |publisher=West Group |others=West Publishing Company |isbn=0-314-20166-1 |location=Minneapolis/St. Paul |oclc=38179345}}</ref>

Legal definitions of sanity have been little explored by science and medicine, as the concentration has been on illness.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Math |first1=Suresh Bada |last2=Kumar |first2=Channaveerachari Naveen |last3=Moirangthem |first3=Sydney |title=Insanity Defense: Past, Present, and Future |journal=Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine |date=2015 |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=381–387 |doi=10.4103/0253-7176.168559 |pmid=26702167 |quote=Very little research has been done on this topic [legal insanity] in India, however, there are few studies on exploring the clinical picture of the patients in prison.|pmc=4676201 |doi-access=free }}</ref> It remains entirely impossible to prove sanity. Furthermore, as Korzybski<ref>Korzybski, A. 2010. ''Selections from Science and Sanity''. The New Non-Aristotelian Library.</ref> has pointed out repeatedly, insanity to various degrees is widespread in the general population, which includes many people that are considered mentally fit in medical and legal terms. In this connection, Erich Fromm<ref>Fromm, Erich. 1955/1990. ''The Sane Society''.</ref> referred to the "pathology of normalcy," while [[David Cooper (psychiatrist)|David Cooper]] proposed that normality was opposed to both madness and sanity.<ref>D Cooper, ''The Death of the Family'' (Penguin 1971) p. 12</ref>

For a last will and testament to be valid, the testator must have [[testamentary capacity]]. This is often expressed using the phrase "being of sound mind and memory".