TY - JOUR
T1 - Rediscovering Psychopathology
T2 - The Epistemology and Phenomenology of the Psychiatric Object
AU - Parnas, Josef
AU - Sass, Louis
AU - Zahavi, Dan
PY - 2013/3
Y1 - 2013/3
N2 - Questions concerning both the ontology and epistemology of the psychiatric object (symptoms and signs) should be at the forefront of current concerns of psychiatry as a clinical neuroscience. We argue that neglect of these issues is a crucial source of the stagnation of psychiatric research. In honor of the centenary of Karl Jaspers' book, General Psychopathology, we offer a critique of the contemporary operationalist epistemology, a critique that is consistent with Jaspers' views. Symptoms and signs cannot be properly understood or identified apart from an appreciation of the nature of consciousness or subjectivity, which in turn cannot be treated as a collection of thing-like, mutually independent objects, accessible to context-free, atheoretical definitions or unproblematic forms of measurement (as is often assumed in structured interviewing). Adequate and faithful distinctions in the phenomenal or experiential realm are therefore a fundamental prerequisite for classification, treatment, and research. This requires a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating (among other things) insights provided by psychology, phenomenological philosophy, and the philosophy of mind.
AB - Questions concerning both the ontology and epistemology of the psychiatric object (symptoms and signs) should be at the forefront of current concerns of psychiatry as a clinical neuroscience. We argue that neglect of these issues is a crucial source of the stagnation of psychiatric research. In honor of the centenary of Karl Jaspers' book, General Psychopathology, we offer a critique of the contemporary operationalist epistemology, a critique that is consistent with Jaspers' views. Symptoms and signs cannot be properly understood or identified apart from an appreciation of the nature of consciousness or subjectivity, which in turn cannot be treated as a collection of thing-like, mutually independent objects, accessible to context-free, atheoretical definitions or unproblematic forms of measurement (as is often assumed in structured interviewing). Adequate and faithful distinctions in the phenomenal or experiential realm are therefore a fundamental prerequisite for classification, treatment, and research. This requires a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating (among other things) insights provided by psychology, phenomenological philosophy, and the philosophy of mind.
U2 - 10.1093/schbul/sbs153
DO - 10.1093/schbul/sbs153
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 23267191
SN - 0586-7614
VL - 39
SP - 270
EP - 277
JO - Schizophrenia Bulletin
JF - Schizophrenia Bulletin
IS - 2
ER -