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1392Intervention, Causal Reasoning, and the Neurobiology of Mental Disorders: Pharmacological Drugs as Experimental InstrumentsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 43 (2): 542-551. 2012.In psychiatry, pharmacological drugs play an important experimental role in attempts to identify the neurobiological causes of mental disorders. Besides being developed in applied contexts as potential treatments for patients with mental disorders, pharmacological drugs play a crucial role in research contexts as experimental instruments that facilitate the formulation and revision of neurobiological theories of psychopathology. This paper examines the various epistemic functions that pharmacolo…Read more
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48Introduction: Objectivity in ScienceIn Flavia Padovani, Alan Richardson & Jonathan Y. Tsou (eds.), Objectivity in Science: New Perspectives From Science and Technology Studies, Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, Vol. 310. Springer. pp. 1-15. 2015.
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216Reconsidering Feyerabend’s “Anarchism‘Perspectives on Science 11 (2): 208-235. 2003.This paper explores Paul Feyerabend's (1924-1994) skeptical arguments for "anarchism" in his early writings between 1960 to 1975. Feyerabend's position is encapsulated by his well-known suggestion that the only principle for scientific method that can be defended under all circumstances is: "anything goes." I present Feyerabend's anarchism as a recommendation for pluralism that assumes a realist view of scientific theories. The aims of this paper are threefold: (1) to present a defensible view o…Read more
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98Distinguishing Non-Conceptual Content from Non-Syntactic Propositions: Comment on FullerSouthwest Philosophy Review 28 (2): 53-57. 2012.In this paper I argue that a principal argument in favor of the existence of non-conceptual content (henceforth NCC) fails. That is, I do not accept that considerations regarding the richness of our perceptual experiences support the existence of NCC. I argue instead that the existence of NCC is empirically motivated. Here is an outline of the paper. First, I set out the distinction between conceptual content and NCC as we understand it. Second, I consider the richness argument (RA), and argue t…Read more
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38Rationality and compulsion: Applying action theory to psychiatry – by Lennart Nordenfelt (review)Journal of Applied Philosophy 26 (4): 415-418. 2009.No Abstract
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927Natural Kinds, Psychiatric Classification and the History of the DSMHistory of Psychiatry 27 (4): 406-424. 2016.This paper addresses philosophical issues concerning whether mental disorders are natural kinds and how the DSM should classify mental disorders. I argue that some mental disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, depression) are natural kinds in the sense that they are natural classes constituted by a set of stable biological mechanisms. I subsequently argue that a theoretical and causal approach to classification would provide a superior method for classifying natural kinds than the purely descriptive …Read more
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416Objectivity in Science: New Perspectives From Science and Technology Studies (edited book)Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, vol. 310. Springer. 2015.This highly multidisciplinary collection discusses an increasingly important topic among scholars in science and technology studies: objectivity in science. It features eleven essays on scientific objectivity from a variety of perspectives, including philosophy of science, history of science, and feminist philosophy. Topics addressed in the book include the nature and value of scientific objectivity, the history of objectivity, and objectivity in scientific journals and communities. Taken indivi…Read more
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907The Importance of History for Philosophy of Psychiatry: The Case of the DSM and Psychiatric ClassificationJournal of the Philosophy of History 5 (3): 446-470. 2011.Abstract Recently, some philosophers of psychiatry (viz., Rachel Cooper and Dominic Murphy) have analyzed the issue of psychiatric classification. This paper expands upon these analyses and seeks to demonstrate that a consideration of the history of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) can provide a rich and informative philosophical perspective for critically examining the issue of psychiatric classification. This case is intended to demonstrate the importance of hist…Read more
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57Review of Michael Heidelberger & Friedrich Stadler (Eds.), History of Philosophy of Science. (review)British Journal for the History of Science 38 (3): 355-356. 2005.
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725Genetic Epistemology and Piaget's Philosophy of Science: Piaget vs. Kuhn on Scientific ProgressTheory and Psychology 16 (2): 203-224. 2006.This paper concerns Jean Piaget's (1896–1980) philosophy of science and, in particular, the picture of scientific development suggested by his theory of genetic epistemology. The aims of the paper are threefold: (1) to examine genetic epistemology as a theory concerning the growth of knowledge both in the individual and in science; (2) to explicate Piaget's view of ‘scientific progress’, which is grounded in his theory of equilibration; and (3) to juxtapose Piaget's notion of progress with Tho…Read more
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692Depression and Suicide are Natural Kinds: Implications for Physician-Assisted SuicideInternational Journal of Law and Psychiatry 36 (5-6): 461-470. 2013.In this article, I argue that depression and suicide are natural kinds insofar as they are classes of abnormal behavior underwritten by sets of stable biological mechanisms. In particular, depression and suicide are neurobiological kinds characterized by disturbances in serotonin functioning that affect various brain areas (i.e., the amygdala, anterior cingulate, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus). The significance of this argument is that the natural (biological) basis of depression and suicid…Read more
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87Review of Rachel Cooper, Classifying Madness (review)British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 61 (2): 453-457. 2010.
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