Causal Concepts in Psychopathology

‘The Editors have collected a wide range of chapters on causal concepts in psychopathology, reflecting current thinking on this major topic, from multiple perspectives, across philosophy, psychiatry and the basic sciences, from Anglo-American and European traditions, integrating research and clinical perspectives.’ Derek Bolton, Professor of Philosophy Psychopathology, King’s College London, UK‘Clinicians and scientists in mental health spend a lot of time thinking about causes, though typically in informal, casual ways gathered through training and experience. This fascinating collection of essays by our smartest thinkers in causation coaches the reader out of this informal thinking and into an expansive realm of systematic, careful thinking, expanding our abilities to hypothesize and explain things, whether in the clinic or the laboratory.’ John Z. Sadler, Daniel W. Foster, M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA‘Like others in this series of conference proceedings, the volume’s essay-and-response structure allows the reader to sit in on an ongoing exchange with experts who have not only thought long and hard about the topic, but who have thought long and hard in conversation with one another. The result of these regular collaborations over the years between psychologists, psychiatrists, and philosophers has been the development of a cumulative vocabulary and shared understanding that have played a foundational role in shaping the young field of philosophy of psychiatry. This latest volume is no different – it gathers together some of the most significant theorists not just of causation in psychiatry, but of causation writ large. The result is essays that apply the most exciting thinking about causation from across the disciplines to some of the most enduring explanatory challenges facing psychiatry. It will, moving forward, be the first port of call for anyone interested in the topic.’ Kathryn Tabb, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Bard College, USA

Kenneth S. Kendler has been publishing actively in psychiatric genetics and psychiatric nosology for thirty-five years and is the recipient of many honors and awards. He has written extensively on topics at the interface between psychiatry, and philosophy and history.

Josef Parnas has dedicated the past twenty-five years to writing about the philosophy of psychopathology and applying it to psychiatric diagnosis and classification. He is a co-founder of the interdisciplinary theoretical institute, The Center for Subjectivity Research at the University of Copenhagen.

Peter Zachar is Professor in the Department of Psychology at Auburn University Montgomery and a Fellow in the Association for Psychological Science. His primary area of scholarship is philosophical issues in psychiatric classification, with notable works including A Metaphysics of Psychopathology (2014, Japanese trans. 2018).