Philosophical issues in psychiatry III: The Nature and Sources of Historical Change

by Kenneth S. Kendler (Editor), Josef Parnas (Editor)

Overview

Psychiatry has long struggled with the nature of its diagnoses. The problems raised by questions about the nature of psychiatric illness are particularly fascinating because they sit at the intersection of philosophy, empirical psychiatric/psychological research, measurement theory, historical tradition and policy. In being the only medical specialty that diagnoses and treats mental illness, psychiatry has been subject to major changes in the last 150 years.

This book explores the forces that have shaped these changes and especially how substantial "internal" advances in our knowledge of the nature and causes of psychiatric illness have interacted with a plethora of external forces that have impacted on the psychiatric profession. It includes contributions from philosophers of science with an interest in psychiatry, psychiatrists and psychologists with expertise in the history of their field and historians of psychiatry. Each chapter is accompanied by an introduction and a commentary.

The result is a dynamic discussion about the nature of psychiatric disorders, and a book that is compelling reading for those in the field of mental health, history of science and medicine, and philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198725978
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/02/2014
Series:	International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Kenneth S. Kendler, Rachel Brown Banks Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA,Josef Parnas, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Copenhagen

The major focus of Professor Kendler's research is in the genetics of psychiatric and substance abuse disorders. Two major methodologies are used in this research. The first involves large population based twin samples. In these twins, we address the aggregate role of genetic and environmental factors. We seek to understand how these factors interact and correlate, and how, through development, the vulnerability to psychiatric illness and drug abuse is expressed. I have focused my work with twin samples from Virginia - in particular the Virginia Adult Twin Study of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders - but also worked with twin samples from Norway, Sweden and Holland. My work has focused on a wide range of disorders including major depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, externalizing behaviors, alcoholism, and drug abuse. I have worked a lot toward understanding the genetic and environmental sources of comorbidity of psychiatric and substance use disorders.

Josef Parnas is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Copenhagen, psychiatric consultant at Psychiatric Center Hvidovre (Copenhagen) and co-founder and senior researcher at the Center of Subjectivity Research, an interdisciplinary research center, integrating philsophy of mind, phenomenology and psychopathology Universirt of Copenhagen, Faculty of the Humanities). Parnas has a long track recored in epidemiological, genetic and psychopathological research in schizophrenia. His research in recent years has mainly dealt with the abnormalities of the structure of experience, especially disorders of self-hood, in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Another focus is on the nature of the psychiatric object and psychodiagnostic assessment. He has for many years published on theoretical, phenomenological, and epistemological problems in psychopathology.

Table of Contents

PrefaceIntroductionList of contributorsPart I: Nature of Historical Change in ScienceSection 1: Objectivity and Scientific Change1. Introduction to Pluralism, Incommensurability, and Scientific Change, Kenneth S. Kendler2. Pluralism, Incommensurability, and Scientific Change, Helen Longino3. For Objective, Value-Laden, Contextualist Pluralism, John DupreSection 2: Change in Psychopathology4. Introduction to History and Epistemology of Psychopathology, Josef Parnas5. History and Epistemology of Psychopathology, German E Berrios6. Can Hybridity Overcome Dualism?, Helen LonginoSection 3: Scientific Disagreement in the Medical Context7. Introduction to Expert Disagreement and Medical Authority, Kenneth S. Kendler8. Expert Disagreement and Medical Authority, Miriam Solomon9. Trust, Dissent and Decision Vectors, Ian HackingSection 4: The Social, the Cultural, and Psychiatric Kinds10. Introduction to Varieties of Social Constructionism and the Problem of Progress in Psychiatry, Kenneth S. Kendler11. Varieties of Social Constructionism and the Problem of Progress in Psychiatry, Kenneth F. Schaffner and Kathryn Tabb12. The role of cultural configurators in the formation of mental symptoms, German E. BerriosPart II: History of Broad Movements/Structures within PsychiatrySection 5: The Psychiatric History of the Diencephalon13. Introduction to Biography of a brain structure: studying the diencephalon as an epistemic object, Josef Parnas14. Biography of a brain structure: studying the diencephalon as an epistemic object, Emilie Bovet15. Some Reflections on Historiographic Strategies for the Neurosciences, Eric J. EngstromSection 6: The History of Psychiatry as Interdisciplinary History16. Introduction to On Attitudes Toward Philosophy and Psychology in German Psychiatry, 1867-1917, Kenneth S. Kendler17. On Attitudes Toward Philosophy and Psychology in German Psychiatry, 1867-1917, Eric J. Engstrom18. Interdisciplinarity vs. compartmentalization: an eternal dilemma in psychiatry, Yuji SatoSection 7: Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis in the United States19. Introduction to The Development of Psychoanalysis in the Context of American Psychiatry, Kenneth S. Kendler20. The Development of Psychoanalysis in the Context of American Psychiatry, Robert Michels21. Decline of psychoanalysis to the advantage of what?, Josef ParnasSection 8: The Operational Revolution22. Introduction to Psychiatry Made Easy: Operation(al)ism and Some of its Consequences, Kenneth S. Kendler23. Psychiatry Made Easy: Operation(al)ism and Some of its Consequences, Josef Parnas and Pierre Bovet24. Hempel as a Critic of Bridgman's Operationalism: Lessons for Psychiatry from the History of Science, Kenneth F. Schaffner and Kathryn TabbSection 9: The Evolution of Genetic Explanation in Psychiatry25. Introduction to the Nature of Nurture, Kenneth S. Kendler26. The Nature of Nature, Eric Turkheimer27. Is it time for a "Copenhagen interpretation" in behavioral genetics?, Peter ZacharSection 10: Psychiatry and Evolution28. Introduction to What Can Evolution Tell us About the Healthy Mind?, Josef Parnas29. What Can Evolution Tell us About the Healthy Mind?, John Dupre30. What can history and social studies of sciences teach us about evolutionary psychiatry?, Emilie BovetPart III: Specific Disorders from an Historical PerspectiveSection 11: Schizophrenia and the Dopamine Hypothesis31. Introduction to Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia: An Updated Perspective, Josef Parnas32. The Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia: An Updated Perspective, Kenneth S. Kendler33. Why is the Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia the Only Game in Town?, Miriam SolomonSection 12: Conceptual status of depression today34. Introduction to An overview in a bio-psycho-socio-economic context, Josef Parnas35. An overview in a bio-psycho-socio-economic context, Yuji Sato36. What do We Want from A Depression Diagnosis?, Eric TurkheimerSection 13: The Shaping of Autism37. Introduction to On the Ratio of Science to Activism in the Shaping of Autism, Josef Parnas38. On the Ratio of Science to Activism in the Shaping of Autism, Ian Hacking39. The Shaping of Autism and Other Psychiatric Disorders: An Alternative Perspective, Kenneth S. KendlerSection 14: The decision to include or exclude a diagnosis in psychiatric nosology: The case of premenstrual dysphoric disorder40. Introduction to A DSM Insiders' History of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, Josef Parnas41. A DSM Insiders' History of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, Peter Zachar and Kenneth S. Kendler42. The Construction of a Diagnosis is Not a Scientific Issue, Robert Michels

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Eric Gausche, MD (Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine)
Description: This book seeks to examine the evolution of nosology and explanatory systems within psychiatry.
Purpose: The purpose is "taking the conceptual frameworks developed in the burgeoning field of history and philosophy of science and applying them to the field of psychiatry." Understanding of the forces at work in determining the course of a discipline like psychiatry is of paramount importance, and this work serves admirably to investigate those forces.
Audience: The book is written at the level of the psychiatric practitioner, although interested psychiatric residents would find it quite accessible.
Features: It investigates, in good detail, the ways in which social, historical, and philosophical currents affect the conceptualization of mental disease and its etiologies. One of its great strengths is its structure, in which each topic is addressed, immediately followed by a counterpoint article. Another is the use of examples of the historical controversies in the delineation of disorders such as autism and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. In this context, I would have expected a thorough discussion of the topic of homosexuality in the DSM, but there was none.
Assessment: This is a high-quality overview of several of the historical and philosophical issues that must arise when attempting to understand the nature of a discipline like psychiatry. Experts in the fields of history and philosophy might find the treatment of some of the topics somewhat lacking in detail, but for a psychiatrist trying to understand the discipline, it is ideal.

Doody's Review Service

"It deserves to be read, re-read, and critically discussed. The anthology offers invaluable resources for understanding the current status of psychiatry within a larger historical, scientific, and epistemological-philosophical framework and is itself a way of addressing the current crisis of psychiatry." —Journal of Phenomenological Psychology

"Academic Publishing: Issues and Challenges in the Construction of knowledge is a must-read reference book for those involved in research into scholarly publication, especially novice researchers."—LinguistList

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