•  145
    Levels of attunement. A comment on Matthew ratcliffe´s the feelings of being
    Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 8 (4): 607-611. 2009.
    In Feelings of Being, one of the most recent publications in the IPPP series, Matthew Ratcliffe provides a detailed phenomenological investigation of a distinct category of existential feelings in everyday life and psychiatric illness. Ratcliffe´s book is divided into three parts, each dealing with issues of remarkable complexity and scope.
  •  17
    Fiat Justitia, Ruat Caelum. Habermasian Reflections on Moral Constraints
    Ethics, Policy and Environment 17 (2): 153-156. 2014.
    In recent years, several factors have brought urgency to the pursuit of adequate measures for dealing with the consequences of climate change. On the one hand, it has become more widely recognized...
  •  99
    Defining mental disorder. Exploring the 'natural function' approach
    Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 6 1-. 2011.
    Due to several socio-political factors, to many psychiatrists only a strictly objective definition of mental disorder, free of value components, seems really acceptable. In this paper, I will explore a variant of such an objectivist approach to defining metal disorder, natural function objectivism. Proponents of this approach make recourse to the notion of natural function in order to reach a value-free definition of mental disorder. The exploration of Christopher Boorse's 'biostatistical' accou…Read more
  •  47
    Sub Specie Aeternitatis. An Actualisation of Wittgenstein on Ethics and Aesthetics
    Nordic Journal of Aesthetics 20 (38): 35-50. 2009.
    Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 This article will present an interpretation of Wittgenstein ’ s understanding of the relationship between ethics and aesthetics. In extension, it will inform recent discussions regarding a special kind of nonsensicality , which forms a central part of ethical and aesthetical expressions. Instead of identity between ethics and aesthetics, we should understand the relationship in terms of interdependence . Both attitudes provide a view sub s…Read more
  •  61
    While many profound philosophical questions arise about psychopaths, I wish to draw attention to two limitations in current debates. First, philosophers mainly deal with offender and forensic populations neglecting so-called ‘successful’ psychopaths. Second, philosophers mainly focus on the issue of empathy and responsibility, while relatively little attention is paid to volitional aspects. I address these two limitations together and argue that ‘successful’ psychopaths are volitionally constrai…Read more
  •  81
    Evolutionary psychiatry and depression: testing two hypotheses
    Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 15 (1): 41-52. 2012.
    In the last few decades, there has been a genuine ‘adaptive turn’ in psychiatry, resulting in evolutionary accounts for an increasing number of psychopathologies. In this paper, I explore the advantages and problems with the two main evolutionary approaches to depression, namely the mismatch and persistence accounts . I will argue that while both evolutionary theories of depression might provide some helpful perspectives, the accounts also harbor significant flaws that might question their autho…Read more
  •  95
    Vulnerability to psychosis, I-thou intersubjectivity and the praecox-feeling
    Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 12 (1): 131-143. 2013.
    Psychotic and prodromal states are characterized by distortions of intersubjectivity, and a number of psychopathologists see in the concrete I-You frame of the clinical encounter the manifestation of such impairment. Rümke has coined the term of ‘praecox-feeling’, designated to describe a feeling of unease emanating in the interviewer that reflects the detachment of the patient and the failure of an ‘affective exchange.’ While the reliability of the praecox-feeling as a diagnostic tool has since…Read more
  •  92
    Cognitive theory (CT) is currently the most widely acknowledged framework used to describe the psychological processes in affective disorders like depression. The purpose of this paper is to assess the philosophical assumptions upon which CT rests. It is argued that CT must be revised due to significant flaws in many of these philosophical assumptions. The paper contains suggestions as to how these problems could be overcome in a manner that would secure philosophical accuracy, while also provid…Read more
  •  61
    Self‐Realization and Owing to Others: An Indirect Constraint?
    International Journal of Philosophical Studies 19 (1): 75-86. 2011.
    The relationship between self‐realization, and so what I really wholeheartedly endorse and owe to myself, and morality or what we owe to others is normally thought of as antagonism, or as a pleasant coincidence: only if I am indebted to such relations as my fundamental projects that I care wholeheartedly about does morality have a direct connection to self‐realization. The aim of this article is to argue against this picture. It will be argued that the structure of self‐realization and the carin…Read more
  •  27
    Naturalism, Interpretation, and Mental Disorder
    Oxford University Press UK. 2015.
    The Philosophy of Psychiatry is a unique area of research because the nature of the subject matter leads to quite distinct methodological issues. Naturalism, Interpretation, and Mental Disorder is an original new work focusing on the challenges we face when trying to interpret and understand mental illness. The book integrates a hermeneutical perspective, and shows how such an approach can reveal important facts about historical sources in psychiatry and the nature of dialogue in the therapeutic…Read more
  •  64
    From Melancholia to Depression: Ideas on a Possible Continuity
    Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology 20 (2): 141-155. 2013.
    Although the Historical concept of melancholia has undergone numerous metamorphoses, it has maintained a place in psychiatric classification and currently refers to a specific melancholic subtype of major depression (American Psychiatric Association 2000, 419). Although melancholia—as a description of pathological states—constitutes the focus of this paper, it must be pointed out that the range of states encompassed by melancholia cover a far wider spectrum than that covered by the term ‘disease…Read more
  •  99
    Existential choices: to what degree is who we are a matter of choice?
    Continental Philosophy Review 44 (1): 65-79. 2011.
    On the one hand, it is commonly agreed that we make choices in which we are guided by a core of personal commitments, wishes, feelings, etc. that we take to express who we are. On the other, it is commonly agreed that some of these ‘existential’ choices constitute who we are. When confronting these two matters, the question of agency inevitably arises: Whether and in what sense can we choose ourselves? The paper will argue for a new perspective on existential choice
  •  36
    The Elephant in the Room
    Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology 20 (2): 165-167. 2013.
    This Article is a response to thoughtful commentaries by Jennifer Radden (2013) and Louis A. Sass and Elizabeth Pienkos (2013) on my paper, which investigates the continuity between melancholia and depression. In the following, I address the challenges presented by the commentators and attempt to clarify and deepen my position. In my paper, I have explored the history of melancholia and depression with special emphasis on the question of their possible continuity—with the knowledge that any such…Read more
  •  1
    This article suggests that an account of pretence based on the idea of shared intentionality can be of help in understanding autism. In autism, there seems to be a strong link between being able to engage in pretend play, understanding the minds of others and having adequate access to own mental states. Since one of the first behavioral manifestations of autism is the lack of pretend play, it therefore seems natural to investigate pretence in order to identify the nature of the central impairmen…Read more
  •  24
    Kognitive Theorie, mentale Repräsentationen und Emotionen. Philosophie und therapeutische Praxis
    Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 60 (6): 937-954. 2012.
  •  71
    Winnicott, symbolic play, and other minds
    Philosophical Psychology 24 (5). 2011.
    In this paper, I will attempt to follow Winnicott's thoughts on the intrinsic connection between symbolic play and the way we understand other minds. Phenomenological, conceptual and empirical difficulties in the account will be presented and taken into consideration. Winnicott's account proves to be a fruitful guide into the issue and can help us clarify impaired symbolic play in autism
  •  93
    Axel Honneth makes initial and promising steps towards what could be called a two-level account of recognition, according to which the normatively substantial forms of recognition represent various manners in which the primordial acquaintedness with others is expressed. It will be argued that Honneth's promising approach must be revised in regard to the issue of intentionality, which may be achieved by reference to earlier critical theorists such as Adorno and Arendt. With such a foundation, cri…Read more
  •  41
    Non-Reflective Self-Awareness Towards a Situated Account
    Journal of Consciousness Studies 19 (3-4): 3-4. 2012.
    After some preliminary distinctions, this paper will discuss the merits of higher-order representational theory and same-order theory. A distinction will be introduced between a intrinsic conception of consciousness and a representational variant . It will be argued that the SOIT account of 'non-reflective self-awareness' can be applied to understanding aspects of psychopathology. However, a closer look at specific aspects of schizophrenic experience reveals that we might need to widen the scope…Read more
  •  41
    This article seeks to defend two claims: Firstly, that Universalist ethics in Habermas and Rawls cannot function without some recourse to the Good Life, or human well-being. Secondly, that such ethical reflection must involve formal anthropological considerations. In other words, it must involve a consideration of the Good that also encompasses reflection on what we are as humans. As an example, the paper draws on Habermas’ recent thoughts on ‘species-ethics’. I will argue that 'species ethics' …Read more
  •  12
    Editor's Introduction: Exploitation Reconsidered
    Southern Journal of Philosophy 54 (S1): 5-8. 2016.
  •  21
    Authenticity has become a widespread ethical ideal that represents a way of dealing with normative gaps in contemporary life. This ideal suggests that one should be true to oneself and lead a life expressive of what one takes oneself to be. However, many contemporary thinkers have pointed out that the ideal of authenticity has increasingly turned into a kind of aestheticism and egoistic self-indulgence. In his book, Varga systematically constructs a critical concept of authenticity that takes in…Read more
  •  36
    Life as Art: Concerning Some Paradoxes of an Ethical Concept
    Estetika: The European Journal of Aesthetics 46 (1): 49-61. 2008.
    During the last thirty years or so, there has been a veritable renaissance of the classical ethical idea of the ‘art of living’. Far from being restricted to philosophical discourse, it has also successfully entered the arena of popular culture. This renaissance is closely linked to the late work of Foucault, in which he attempts to restore this classical idea, which he thinks is lacking in modern Western societies. The author aims to assess the Foucaultdian idea of the art of living, and argues…Read more