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Integration and Causality in Enactive Approaches to Psychiatry
1Department of Philosophy, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
|July 21, 2022
Summary
This study proposes a new enactive method to solve the integration problem in psychiatry, using dynamical causation and gestalt concepts. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) serves as a key case study for this novel approach.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Science
- Philosophy of Mind
Background:
- The integration problem in psychiatry concerns how to unify diverse explanations of the mind.
- Existing approaches are often limited by hierarchical or non-dynamical causal models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address the integration problem in psychiatry.
- To develop a novel interdisciplinary framework for understanding mental phenomena.
Main Methods:
- Adopt an interdisciplinary enactive perspective.
- Introduce a concept of dynamical causation.
- Utilize a non-hierarchical, level-free notion of gestalt.
- Apply the framework to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as a test case.
Main Results:
- A 3-fold method for exploring the dynamics of integration has been developed.
- The enactive perspective offers a new way to conceptualize causality and explanatory levels.
- The proposed framework provides a unified approach to understanding complex mental disorders.
Conclusions:
- The enactive, dynamical causation, and gestalt-based method offers a promising solution to the integration problem.
- This approach can enhance our understanding of the mind and mental disorders like ASD.
- Further research is warranted to explore the clinical applications of this framework.
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