Philosophy of Mind and Psychiatry

Reach and Boundaries of a Biological Account to the Study of Delusions

Authors

  • Emilia Vilatta Instituto de Humanidades, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (IDH-CONICET-UNC).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17230/co-herencia.14.27.7

Keywords:

Psychiatry, philosophy of mind, naturalism, psychiatric disorders, de-lusions, reductionism, eliminativism

Abstract

This paper focuses on the philosophical study of delusions as an example of the link that can be established between the philosophy of mind and psychiatry. Against radically naturalistic versions that suggest reductionist or eliminativist variables to explain certain mental phenomena and their ‘abnormal’ variables, I will stand up for a toned-down version of the naturalistic perspective. In this sense, I will point out that it is necessary to keep some level of sympathy towards naturalism in the philosophical research on delusions to develop the theories about the empirically informed beliefs that do not contradict the current developments on cognitive psychology and neurosciences. Nevertheless, I will also state that an exclusively naturalist perspective –from both philosophy and psychiatry itself- cannot render an account of the regulatory context within which beliefs develop. Normative, particularly external, criteria (social and pragmatic) used to classify certain beliefs as delirious are not intelligible under a purely natural explanation. Conversely, to understand delusional beliefs as delusional, it will be necessary to take an interest in a hybrid approach that considers the natural causes of the phenomenon as well as its normative assessment.

Author Biography

  • Emilia Vilatta, Instituto de Humanidades, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (IDH-CONICET-UNC).
    Pabellón Agustín Tosco 1° Piso.
    (Centro de Investigaciones de la Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades)
    Ciudad Universitaria  Córdoba, Argentina

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Published

2017-10-05

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 27 (2017)

Section

Filosofía

License

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

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How to Cite

Vilatta, E. (2017). Philosophy of Mind and Psychiatry: Reach and Boundaries of a Biological Account to the Study of Delusions. Co-herencia, 14(27), 159-180. https://doi.org/10.17230/co-herencia.14.27.7