Philosophical Issues in Psychiatry: Explanation, Phenomenology, and Nosology

This multidisciplinary collection explores the three key concepts underlying psychiatry - explanation, phenomenology and nosology - and their continuing relevance in the age of neuroimaging and genetic analysis. Kenneth S. Kendler's introduction outlines the philosophical underpinnings of psychiatric practice. The first part deals with the concept of explanation, from the difficulty of describing complex behaviour to the categorisation of psychological and biological causality. In the second part, the authors discuss experience, including the complex and vexed question of how self-governance and freedom will affect mental health. The third and final section addresses organisational difficulties in psychiatric nosology and the instability of the existing diagnostic system. Each chapter includes both an introduction by the editors and a summary statement by another co-author of the book.