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Philosophy of psychiatry

By: Tsou, Jonathan Y
Language: English Publisher: United Kingdom -- Cambridge University Press -- 2021Description: 77pISBN: 9781108706667Subject(s): Philosophy | PsychologyDDC classification: 150.1 TSO/P Summary: Jonathan Y. Tsou examines and defends positions on central issues in philosophy of psychiatry. The positions defended assume a naturalistic and realist perspective and are framed against skeptical perspectives on biological psychiatry. Issues addressed include the reality of mental disorders; mechanistic and disease explanations of abnormal behavior; definitions of mental disorder; natural and artificial kinds in psychiatry; biological essentialism and the projectability of psychiatric categories; looping effects and the stability of mental disorders; psychiatric classification; and the validity of the DSM's diagnostic categories. The main argument defended by Tsou is that genuine mental disorders are biological kinds with harmful effects. This argument opposes the dogma that mental disorders are necessarily diseases (or pathological conditions) that result from biological dysfunction. Tsou contends that the broader ideal of biological kinds offers a more promising and empirically ascertainable naturalistic standard for assessing the reality of mental disorders and the validity of psychiatric categories.
Item type Current location Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode
Reference Reference Central Library
Reference (Sahyadri Campus)
Reference 150.1 TSO/P Not for loan 07876
Book Book Central Library
General Stack (Nila Campus)
150.1 TSO/P Available 07877

1. Introduction;

2. Skepticism about Biological Psychiatry;

3. Defining Mental Disorder;

4. Natural Kinds in Psychiatry;

5. Psychiatric Classification and the Pursuit of Diagnostic Validity;

6. Conclusion.


Jonathan Y. Tsou examines and defends positions on central issues in philosophy of psychiatry. The positions defended assume a naturalistic and realist perspective and are framed against skeptical perspectives on biological psychiatry. Issues addressed include the reality of mental disorders; mechanistic and disease explanations of abnormal behavior; definitions of mental disorder; natural and artificial kinds in psychiatry; biological essentialism and the projectability of psychiatric categories; looping effects and the stability of mental disorders; psychiatric classification; and the validity of the DSM's diagnostic categories. The main argument defended by Tsou is that genuine mental disorders are biological kinds with harmful effects. This argument opposes the dogma that mental disorders are necessarily diseases (or pathological conditions) that result from biological dysfunction. Tsou contends that the broader ideal of biological kinds offers a more promising and empirically ascertainable naturalistic standard for assessing the reality of mental disorders and the validity of psychiatric categories.

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