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143Martin HeideggerIn Giovanni Stanghellini, Matthew Broome, Anthony Vincent Fernandez, Paolo Fusar-Poli, Andrea Raballo & René Rosfort (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Phenomenological Psychopathology, Oxford University Press. pp. 25-34. 2018.Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) is one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. His influence, however, extends beyond philosophy. His account of Dasein, or human existence, permeates the human and social sciences, including nursing, psychiatry, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and artificial intelligence. In this chapter, I outline Heidegger’s influence on psychiatry and psychology, focusing especially on his relationships with the Swiss psychiatrists Ludwig Binswanger an…Read more
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16Robert Stolorow’s World, Affectivity, Trauma: Heidegger and Post-Cartesian Psychoanalysis: New York: Routledge, 2011, 121 pp. $23.95 (review)Human Studies 37 (2): 287-292. 2014.The community of psychiatrists and psychologists in early twentieth century Europe cultivated a strong interest in the phenomenologically informed accounts of human existence offered by Heidegger. The psychiatrists, Binswanger (1968) and Boss (1957/1963; 1970/1979), developed personal relationships with Heidegger, and while Heidegger ultimately rejected Binswanger’s work, Boss worked closely with him throughout his life in order to keep his own work on a sound phenomenological footing. This inte…Read more
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168Phenomenology, Mental Illness, and the Intersubjective Constitution of the LifeworldIn S. West Gurley & Geoff Pfeifer (eds.), Phenomenology and the Political, Rowman and Littlefield. pp. 199-214. 2016.
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288Beyond the Ontological Difference: Heidegger, Binswanger, and the Future of Existential AnalysisIn Kevin Aho (ed.), Existential Medicine: Essays on Health and Illness, Rowman & Littlefield. 2018.
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85Merleau-Ponty and the Foundations of PsychopathologyIn Şerife Tekin & Robyn Bluhm (eds.), The Bloomsbury Companion to Philosophy of Psychiatry, Bloomsbury. pp. 133-154. 2019.
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174Phenomenology and Dimensional Approaches to Psychiatric Research and ClassificationPhilosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology 26 (1): 65-75. 2019.Contemporary psychiatry finds itself in the midst of a crisis of classification. The developments begun in the 1980s—with the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders —successfully increased inter-rater reliability. However, these developments have done little to increase the predictive validity of our categories of disorder. A diagnosis based on DSM categories and criteria often fails to accurately anticipate course of illness or treatment response. In addition…Read more
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121Phenomenology and the Crisis of Contemporary Psychiatry: Contingency, Naturalism, and ClassificationDissertation, University of South Florida. 2016.This dissertation is a contribution to the contemporary field of phenomenological psychopathology, or the phenomenological study of psychiatric disorders. The work proceeds with two major aims. The first is to show how a phenomenological approach can clarify and illuminate the nature of psychopathology—specifically those conditions typically labeled as major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. The second is to show how engaging with psychopathological conditions can challenge and undermine…Read more
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107Reconsidering the affective dimension of depression and mania: towards a phenomenological dissolution of the paradox of mixed statesJournal of Psychopathology 20 (4): 414-422. 2014.In this paper, I examine recent phenomenological research on both depressive and manic episodes, with the intention of showing how phenomenologically oriented studies can help us overcome the apparently paradoxical nature of mixed states. First, I argue that some of the symptoms included in the diagnostic criteria for depressive and manic episodes in the DSM-5 are not actually essential features of these episodes. Second, I reconsider the category of major depressive disorder (MDD) from the pers…Read more
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9Petr Kouba: The Phenomenon of Mental Disorder: Perspectives of Heidegger’s Thought in Psychopathology: Springer, New York and London: 2015, 203 pp, +Index (review)Human Studies 40 (1): 145-150. 2017.
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9The Phenomenology of Psychopathological Embodiment: A Critique of Thomas Fuch's Concept of CorporealizationJournal of Consciousness Studies 23 (3-4): 50-75. 2016.In this article I offer a critical analysis and evaluation of Thomas Fuchs' concept of corporealization, as well as the Leib/Körper distinction (i.e. the distinction between the lived and corporeal body) that it is founded upon. First, I show that the foundational concepts -- Leib and Körper -- are problematically heterogeneous, each including a diverse set of phenomena requiring further delineation and clarification. Second, I consider the historical origins of this heterogeneity and ambiguity …Read more
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176The Subject Matter of Phenomenological Research: Existentials, Modes, and PrejudicesSynthese 194 (9): 3543-3562. 2017.In this essay I address the question, “What is the subject matter of phenomenological research?” I argue that in spite of the increasing popularity of phenomenology, the answers to this question have been brief and cursory. As a result, contemporary phenomenologists lack a clear framework within which to articulate the aims and results of their research, and cannot easily engage each other in constructive and critical discourse. Examining the literature on phenomenology’s identity, I show how th…Read more
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151Language, Prejudice, and the Aims of Hermeneutic Phenomenology: Terminological Reflections on “Mania"Journal of Psychopathology 22 (1): 21-29. 2016.In this paper I examine the ways in which our language and terminology predetermine how we approach, investigate and conceptualise mental illness. I address this issue from the standpoint of hermeneutic phenomenology, and my primary object of investigation is the phenomenon referred to as “mania”. Drawing on resources from classical phenomenology, I show how phenomenologists attempt to overcome their latent presuppositions and prejudices in order to approach “the matters themselves”. In other wo…Read more
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186Depression as existential feeling or de-situatedness? Distinguishing structure from mode in psychopathologyPhenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 13 (4): 595-612. 2014.In this paper I offer an alternative phenomenological account of depression as consisting of a degradation of the degree to which one is situated in and attuned to the world. This account contrasts with recent accounts of depression offered by Matthew Ratcliffe and others. Ratcliffe develops an account in which depression is understood in terms of deep moods, or existential feelings, such as guilt or hopelessness. Such moods are capable of limiting the kinds of significance and meaning that one …Read more
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University of Southern DenmarkDepartment of Sports Science and Clinical BiomechanicsAssistant Professor of Applied Philosophy
Odense, Denmark
Areas of Specialization
Continental Philosophy |
Phenomenology |
Philosophy of Psychiatry and Psychopathology |
Philosophy of Medicine |
Areas of Interest
Biomedical Ethics |
Environmental Ethics |