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Course Description:
This course surveys one of the most interesting developments in the history and
philosophy of science: the scientific practices involved in making human beings
an object of study. We examine the ways in which psychologists and psychiatrists
have investigated human nature, approaches to research they have developed to
that end, major controversies in the field, and basic philosophical assumptions
made in the sciences of human nature. We investigate the development of
psychiatric theory, treatment methods, and institutions. Finally, we connect
philosophical questions raised by mental disorder and our attempts to
understand/treat it to debates in philosophy such as the mind/body problem, the
25 Points
Homework Exercises
In-Class Presentation
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
400 Points
175 Points
200 Points
200 Points
1000 Points TOTAL
Office Hours Visit (2.5%): Your first assignment will be to schedule an initial 10minute visit with your course instructor. This visit, which will take place during the
first two weeks of class will be an informal conversation primarily designed to
allow one-on-one face time between you and the instructor, a sort of get-toknow-you. This visit will also serve to let you know where office hours will be
held, and to allow you to ask any questions you have regarding the course.
Homework Exercises (40%): Several homework exercises will be assigned
throughout the duration of the course. Each homework exercise will typically
include reading a short excerpt, thinking about that reading, and then responding
to several questions. The exercises can be found in the required textbook.
Class Presentation (17.5%): At the beginning of the semester, you will sign up
to focus on a particular kind of case of mental illness, and gather information
about it. Then each student will give a brief (10-minute) presentation on that
particular kind of mental illness and the philosophical issues that arise. In
gathering information about your chosen illness, I especially want you to try to
find descriptions of what it is like to have the disorder; what goes through the
mind of the person with the disorder, how do they think about other people, how
do they live from day to day with the disorder? I encourage you to find memoirs,
novels, movies, documentaries, TV shows, blogs, newspaper articles, artwork,
poetry, music, and also clinical descriptions by mental health professionals, so
you get a variety of perspectives.
Midterm Exam (15%): The midterm exam will cover topics in the required text
from first part of the course (Parts I & 2).
Final Exam (25%): The final exam will cover topics in the required text from the
second part of the course (Parts III, IV, & V).
Course Structure:
This course aims to cover the large majority of the text and consists of five parts:
Part I: Core Concepts in Philosophy and Mental Health
What is a mental illness and how does it relate to disease?
Part II: A Philosophical History of Psychopathology
How have we come to recognize the variety and subtlety of
psychopathological concepts?
Part III: Philosophy of Science and Mental Health
What is the relationship between science and the experiencing subject?
Part IV: Values, Ethics, and Mental Health
What are the moral and legal issues that arise in psychiatry?
Part V: Philosophy of Mind and Mental Health
What is the role of rationality both in our understanding of minds and
mental states, and in the marking of the minds as different from other
aspects of the natural world?
Course Schedule:
Reading
Assignments, etc.
Assignments
Week 1: Introduction to the History and Philosophy and Psychiatry
Date
Topic
Vaughn,
Chapter 1
Aug 28 How to Read Arguments
Vaughn,
Chapter 2
Week 2: Part I: Core Concepts in Philosophy and Mental Health
Aug 31 Philosophical Problems in
Mental Health and Practical
Health
Chapters 2,
pp. 4-13
Sep 2
Philosophical Problems in
Mental Health and Practical
Health
Sep 4 Experiences Good and Bad:
An Introduction to
Psychopathology,
Classification, and Diagnosis
for Philosophers
Week 3: Part I (Continued)
Sep 7
Sep 9
Labor Day
Philosophical Methods in
Mental Health and Practice
Chapter 2,
pp. 14-21
Chapter 2, Exercise 7
Due
Chapter 3,
pp. 33-46
No Class
Chapter 3,
pp. 46-51;
Chapter 4,
pp. 61-73
Chapter 4,
pp. 73-83
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
(continued)
Chapter 7
Chapter 6, Exercise 16
Due
disorder
Week 6: Part II (Continued)
Sep 28 Karl Jaspers and General
Psychopathology
Sep 30 Phenomenology and
Psychopathology
Oct 2 Phenomenology and
Psychopathology
Week 7: Part II (Continued)
Chapter 8
Oct 5
Chapter 9,
pp. 197-208
Phenomenology and
Psychopathology
MIDTERM EXAM
Chapter 8, Exercise 6
Due
Chapter 9,
pp. 181-191
Chapter 9,
pp. 191-197
Chapter 9, Exercise 1
Due
Oct 7
Oct 9 Fall Break
No Class
Week 8: Part III: Philosophy of Science and Mental Health
Oct 12 Psychoanalysis: An
introduction to the
philosophy of science
Oct 14 Psychoanalysis: An
introduction to the
philosophy of science
Oct 16 Psychoanalysis: An
introduction to the
philosophy of science
Week 9: Part III (Continued)
Chapter 11,
pp. 245-254
Chapter 11,
pp. 271-283
Chapter 12,
pp. 290-297
Chapter 12,
pp. 297-303
Chapter 12,
pp. 303-313
Chapter 14,
pp. 386-391
Chapter 11,
pp. 254-271
Chapter 17,
pp. 470-479
Nov 9
Chapter 18,
pp. 509-519
Chapter 18,
pp. 519-530
Chapter 20,
pp. 567Chapter 20,
pp. 567-571
Chapter 17,
pp. 479-492
Chapter 18,
pp. 499-509
Chapter 20,
pp. 571-578
Reich, W.
(1999).
Psychiatric
diagnosis as
an ethical
problem.
Chapter 20, Exercise 11
Due
Nov
No Class
No Class
No Class
22-29
Week 15: Part V: Philosophy of Mind and Mental Health
Nov 30 Mind, brain, and mental
illness: an introduction to the
philosophy of mind
Dec 2 Mind, brain, and mental
illness: an introduction to the
philosophy of mind
Dec 4 Agency, Causation, and
Freedom
Week 16: Part V (Continued)
Chapter 22,
pp. 614-619
Dec 7
Chapter 26,
pp. 727-734
Chapter 27,
pp. 739-750
Chapter 27,
pp. 750-756
Dec 9
Chapter 22,
pp. 619-624
Chapter 26,
pp. 718-727
Finals Week
Dec
14-18
FINAL EXAM
5:00-7:00 p.m., Wed.,
December 16
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explanation then you risk failing the class.
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