"Psychiatry and Philosophy of Science" explores conceptual issues in psychiatry from the perspective of analytic philosophy of science. Through an examination of those features of psychiatry that distinguish it from other sciences - for example, its contested subject matter, its particular modes of explanation, its multiple different theoretical frameworks, and its research links with big business - Rachel Cooper explores some of the many conceptual, metaphysical and epistemological issues that arise in psychiatry. She shows how these pose interesting challenges for the philosopher of science while also showing how ideas from the philosophy of science can help to solve conceptual problems within psychiatry. Cooper's discussion ranges over such topics as the nature of mental illnesses, the treatment decisions and diagnostic categories of psychiatry, the case-history as a form of explanation, how psychiatry might be value-laden, the claim that psychiatry is a multi-paradigm science, the distortion of psychiatric research by pharmaceutical industries, as well as engaging with the fundamental question whether the mind is reducible to something at the physical level. "Psychiatry and Philosophy of Science" demonstrates that cross-disciplinary contact between philosophy of science and psychiatry can be immensely productive for both subjects and it will be required reading for mental health professionals and philosophers alike.
Cooper
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Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: psychiatry and philosophy of science 2. The nature of mental illness I: is mental illness a myth? 3. The nature of mental illness II: if mental disorders exist, what are they? 4. Explanations in psychiatry I: natural-history based explanations 5. Explanations in psychiatry II: individual case histories 6. Relations between theories I: when paradigms meet 7. Relations between theories II: reductionisms 8. Managing values and interests I: psychiatry as a value-laden science 9. Managing values and interests II: big business and judging treatments 10. Conclusion Notes Further Reading References Index
