In this paper I discuss the scientific respectability of delusion as a psychiatric category. First, I present the essentialist objection to the natural kindhood of psychiatric categories, as well as non-essentialism about natural kinds as a response to that objection. Second, I present a nuanced classification of kinds of kinds. Third, drawing on the claim that the attribution of delusion relies on a folk psychological underpinning, I present the mind-dependence objection to the natural kind status of delusion. Finally, I argue that even if delusion as a generic kind stands little chance of being vindicated as a non-essentialist natural kind, we stand to gain from a natural kind methodology regarding subtypes of delusion for which there is evidence of genuine causal signatures and mechanisms. Keywords: delusion, folk psychiatry, psychiatry. RESUMONesse artigo avalio a respeitabilidade do delírio enquanto categoria psiquiátrica-um estatuto que é discutivelmente colocado em perigo pelo fato de que a detecção e a atribuição do delírio parecem se derivar não da classificação causal, mas sim da aplicação do que podemos chamar 'psiquiatria do senso comum' (folk psychiatry). Primeiramente, examino a questão de se tipos psiquiátricos, como um todo, atendem às demandas requeridas para que um tipo seja uma distinção objetiva na natureza. Introduzo um sentido liberal no qual espécies biológicas, bem como categorias psiquiátricas, podem ser vistas como tipos naturais-a saber, o modelo de agrupamentos homeostáticos de propriedades. Subsequentemente, apresento e avalio como modelos da detecção e atribuição de transtornos mentais podem ter impacto mesmo sobre uma compreensão liberal do delírio como um tipo natural. Finalmente, concluo argumentando em favor de uma compreensão da categoria do delírio em geral como um tipo da psicologia do senso comum recomendando, por sua vez, uma metodologia de tipos naturais para a investigação de subtipos de delírio. Palavras-chave: delírio, psiquiatria do senso comum, psiquiatria. Delusion as a folk psychological kindDelírio como uma categoria da psicologia do senso comum
Clinical delusions are widely characterized as being pathological beliefs in both the clinical literature and in common sense. Recently, a philosophical debate has emerged between defenders of the commonsense position (doxasticists) and their opponents, who have the burden of pointing toward alternative characterizations (anti-doxasticists). In this chapter, I argue that both doxasticism and anti-doxasticism fail to characterize the functional role of delusions while at the same time being unable to play a role in the explanation of these phenomena. I also argue that though a more nuanced view of belief in which mental states are more or less belief-like instills a healthy skepticism towards the precision of folk-psychological concepts, such a stance fails to be of use in building a theory of delusion that will be able to bridge different levels of explanation, such as the phenomenology and neurobiology of delusion. Thus, I advocate moving past the question 'Are delusions beliefs?' and their description as propositional attitudes toward the description of the processes that generate delusion, with a view toward explaining, rather than explaining away, the personal-level aspects of the phenomenon that have been made inscrutable by investing in doxastic terminology. © Springer International Publishing AG 2018 I. Hipólito et al. (eds.), Schizophrenia and Common Sense, Studies in Brain and Mind 12, https://doi.Abstract Clinical delusions are widely characterized as being pathological beliefs in both the clinical literature and in common sense. Recently, a philosophical debate has emerged between defenders of the commonsense position (doxasticists) and their opponents, who have the burden of pointing toward alternative characterizations (anti-doxasticists). In this chapter, I argue that both doxasticism and antidoxasticism fail to characterize the functional role of delusions while at the same time being unable to play a role in the explanation of these phenomena. I also argue that though a more nuanced view of belief in which mental states are more or less belief-like instills a healthy skepticism towards the precision of folk-psychological concepts, such a stance fails to be of use in building a theory of delusion that will be able to bridge different levels of explanation, such as the phenomenology and neurobiology of delusion. Thus, I advocate moving past the question 'Are delusions beliefs?' and their description as propositional attitudes toward the description of the processes that generate delusion, with a view toward explaining, rather than explaining away, the personal-level aspects of the phenomenon that have been made inscrutable by investing in doxastic terminology.
Although delusion is one of the central concepts of psychopathology, it stills eludes precise conceptualization. In this paper, I present certain basic issues concerning the classification and definition of delusion, as well as its ontological status. By examining these issues, I aim to shed light on the ambiguity of the clinical term ‘delusion’ and its extension, as well as provide clues as to why philosophers are increasingly joining the ranks of psychiatrists, psychologists, and neuroscientists in the effort to come to a comprehensive understanding of delusion.
My aim in this paper is to consider the question 'Why is belief in God not a delusion?'. In the first half of the paper, I distinguish two kinds of religious belief: institutional and personal religious belief. I then review how cognitive science accounts for cultural processes in the acquisition and transmission of institutional religious beliefs. In the second half of the paper, I present the clinical definition of delusion and underline the fact that it exempts cultural beliefs from clinical diagnosis. Finally, I review cognitive models of the intuitive attribution of mental disorders and how they support cultural exemption. Through the comparison of the models of cultural acquisition of religious beliefs and of cultural exemption in the attribution of delusion I intend to make it clear that we can provide an answer to our motivating question: even though some institutional religious beliefs may seem as strange as the most florid delusions, humans can readily recognize that they are not the product of mental dysfunction due to the fact that their acquisition and transmission is embedded within a cultural context.
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