Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Toward a philosophical structure for psychiatry.

Kenneth S Kendler1

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. kendler@hsc.vcu.edu

The American Journal of Psychiatry
|March 3, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Psychiatry requires a unified framework addressing mind-brain interactions and integrating diverse explanations for mental illness. This involves accepting complex causes and embracing multiple research approaches for better understanding and treatment.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Prediction of alcohol use disorder using personality disorder traits: a twin study.

Addiction (Abingdon, England)·2017
Same author

The utility of empirically assigning ancestry groups in cross-population genetic studies of addiction.

The American journal on addictions·2017
Same author

Shared familial risk between bulimic symptoms and alcohol involvement during adolescence.

Journal of abnormal psychology·2017
Same author

Common adult psychiatric disorders in Swedish primary care where most mental health patients are treated.

BMC psychiatry·2017
Same author

The Protective Effect of Pregnancy on Risk for Drug Abuse: A Population, Co-Relative, Co-Spouse, and Within-Individual Analysis.

The American journal of psychiatry·2017
Same author

Parental alcohol use and risk of behavioral and emotional problems in offspring.

PloS one·2017

Area of Science:

  • Philosophy of Mind
  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Current psychiatric frameworks struggle to reconcile mind-brain relationships and integrate varied explanatory perspectives.
  • The field faces challenges in developing a coherent conceptual and philosophical foundation for understanding mental illness.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a coherent conceptual and philosophical framework for psychiatry.
  • To address the interrelation of mind and brain and the integration of multiple explanatory perspectives in psychiatric illness.

Main Methods:

  • Defense of eight propositions outlining a philosophical framework for psychiatry.
  • Philosophical argumentation and conceptual analysis to support the proposed framework.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Rejection of Cartesian substance dualism and epiphenomenalism.
  • Affirmation of bidirectional causality between brain and mind.
  • Advocacy for explanatory pluralism over monistic approaches, particularly biological reductionism.

Conclusions:

  • Psychiatric disorders are etiologically complex, necessitating a move beyond simplistic, single-cause explanations.
  • A framework supporting 'patchy reductionism' and 'piecemeal integration' is proposed for explaining complex etiological pathways.
  • Psychiatry should embrace complexity and support empirically rigorous, pluralistic explanatory models grounded in first-person experiences.