Philosophy in the Library: Mad by Design: Rethinking Psychiatry Outside Dysfunction
For the November Philosophy in the Library, Justin Garson discussion psychiatry outside dysfunction.
Philosophers have long debated the meaning of “mental disorder” and its proper boundaries. Why are schizophrenia and bipolar disorder considered “mental disorders,” but racism and jealousy are not? How should we draw a line between mental disorders and socially undesirable thoughts and feelings? A dominant paradigm today is that mental disorders differ from socially undesirable thoughts and feelings because mental disorders are medical diseases. Like other diseases, they involve inner dysfunctions. Mental disorders happen when a person’s mind, or brain, isn’t working as “nature designed it to.” Here, I share historical research I’ve carried out that suggests that, until recently, mental health professionals held a very different paradigm for thinking about mental illness. I call this paradigm “madness as design.” In this paradigm, mental disorders are seen as potentially useful, beneficial, or therapeutic in their own right, rather than as dysfunctions or diseases. This paradigm could have a powerful impact not only for philosophical debates, but for mental health treatment, too.
Justin Garson is a professor of philosophy at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY. His main interest is exploring how biology is changing our collective understanding of the human mind. He is the author of three books, The Biological Mind: A Philosophical Introduction (Routledge, 2015), A Critical Overview of Biological Functions (Springer, 2016), and What Biological Functions Are and Why They Matter (Cambridge, 2019), as well as numerous scholarly articles. His most recent interest is in the history and philosophy of psychiatry, and different paradigms of mental health.
Please register for this free Zoom event. Registered audience members will receive a Zoom link prior to the event.
For the November Philosophy in the Library, Justin Garson discussion psychiatry outside dysfunction.
Philosophers have long debated the meaning of “mental disorder” and its proper boundaries. Why are schizophrenia and bipolar disorder considered “mental disorders,” but racism and jealousy are not? How should we draw a line between mental disorders and socially undesirable thoughts and feelings? A dominant paradigm today is that mental disorders differ from socially undesirable thoughts and feelings because mental disorders are medical diseases. Like other diseases, they involve inner dysfunctions. Mental disorders happen when a person’s mind, or brain, isn’t working as “nature designed it to.” Here, I share historical research I’ve carried out that suggests that, until recently, mental health professionals held a very different paradigm for thinking about mental illness. I call this paradigm “madness as design.” In this paradigm, mental disorders are seen as potentially useful, beneficial, or therapeutic in their own right, rather than as dysfunctions or diseases. This paradigm could have a powerful impact not only for philosophical debates, but for mental health treatment, too.
Justin Garson is a professor of philosophy at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY. His main interest is exploring how biology is changing our collective understanding of the human mind. He is the author of three books, The Biological Mind: A Philosophical Introduction (Routledge, 2015), A Critical Overview of Biological Functions (Springer, 2016), and What Biological Functions Are and Why They Matter (Cambridge, 2019), as well as numerous scholarly articles. His most recent interest is in the history and philosophy of psychiatry, and different paradigms of mental health.
Please register for this free Zoom event. Registered audience members will receive a Zoom link prior to the event.
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