Thagard Paul. Mental Illness from the Perspective of Theoretical Neuroscience

PUBLISHER:
The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Perspectives in Biology and Medicine.
Volume 51, Number 3, Summer 2008, pp. 335-352.
E-ISSN: 1529-8795 Print ISSN: 0031-5982.
Subject Headings:
Mental illness - Moral and ethical aspects.
Neurosciences - Philosophy.
ABSTRACT.
Theoretical neuroscience, which characterizes neural mechanisms.
using mathematical and computational models, is highly relevant to central problems in.
the philosophy of psychiatry .These models can help to solve the explanation problem.
of causally connecting neural processes with the behaviors and experiences found in.
mental illnesses. Such explanations will also be useful for generating better classifica-.
tions and treatments of psychiatric disorders.The result should help to eliminate con-.
cerns that mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia are not objectively real.
A philosophical approach to mental illness based on neuroscience need not neglect the.
inherently social and historical nature of mental phenomena.