Maladapting Minds Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Evolutionary Theory

by Adriaens, Pieter R.; De Block, Andreas

• ISBN13: 9780199558667
• ISBN10: 0199558663
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-05-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Ever since Darwin, psychiatrists have been tempted to put evolutionary theory to use in their efforts to understand and explain mental disorders. Varying in success, scope and scientific rigour, these attempts have often caught the attention of philosophers. There are many studies about how the philosophy of psychiatry has been informed by twentieth-century 'continental' philosophy (in focusing on topics such as embodiment, narrativity and gender) as well as 'analytic' philosophy (in focusing on more conceptual issues). Thus far, however, there are simply no studies about how philosophical issues in psychiatric theory and practice can be, and have been informed by evolutionary theory. The Insane Animal explores the relationship between evolutionary theory and philosophy of psychiatry. In particular, it discusses a number of reasons why philosophers of psychiatry should take an interest in evolutionary explanations of mental disorders, and, more generally, in evolutionary thinking. The many chapters deal with evolutionary accounts of various mental disorders, including phobias, fetishism, developmental disorders, depression, autism spectrum disorders, and schizophrenia. Written by both world-class philosophers, psychologists and evolutionary psychiatrists, this volume illustrates that many debates in contemporary philosophy of psychiatry are profoundly influenced by evolutionary approaches to mental disorders. In doing so, it represents the very first attempts to critically explore the interface between evolutionary theory and philosophy of psychiatry. It is important reading for psychiatrists, philosophers of mind, and evolutionary pschologists.

Author Biography

Written by leading authors in philosophy, psychiatry, biology, and psychology, this volume illustrates that many debates in contemporary philosophy of psychiatry are profoundly influenced by evolutionary approaches to mental disorders. Conversely, it also reveals how philosophers can help contribute to the burgeoning field of evolutionary psychiatry. It is important reading for a wide range of readers interested in mental health care and philosophy.

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. xvii
Introduction: Why philosophers of psychiatry should care about evolutionary theory	p. 1
Psychiatric Darwinism versus Darwinian psychiatry	p. 3
Explaining the evolution of mental disorders	p. 6
Sociobiology, evolutionary psychology, evolutionary psychiatry: philosophical criticism	p. 10
Evolution, dysfunction, and mental disorders	p. 19
Das kranke Tier: evolution, psychopathology, and human nature	p. 23
Conclusion	p. 27
References	p. 27
Evolutionary psychiatry and its critics	p. 33
Fearing new dangers: phobias and the cognitive complexity of human emotions	p. 35
The case of phobia	p. 36
A module for fear	p. 42
Snakes and spiders vs syringes and guns	p. 46
Further problems with the evolutionist's explanation of phobias	p. 52
An alternative conception of emotion	p. 55
Conclusion	p. 59
Acknowledgments	p. 60
References	p. 60
Sexual imprinting and fetishism: an evolutionary hypothesis	p. 65
The science of fetishism: a history	p. 66
The evolution of human sexual preferences	p. 68
Sexual imprinting in animals	p. 71
Sexual imprinting in humans	p. 78
Adaptationism and sexual imprinting	p. 82
Conclusion	p. 84
Acknowledgments	p. 86
References	p. 86
Developmental disorders and cognitive architecture	p. 91
Psychopathologies and cognitive architecture	p. 93
Why developmental psychopathologies provide no evidence for modularity	p. 98
The epistemology of developmental dissociations	p. 105
Evaluation of the strong reading of Premise 2	p. 109
Conclusion	p. 112
References	p. 113
On the role of ethology in clinical psychiatry: what do ontogenetic and causal factors tell us about ultimate explanations of depression?	p. 117
Introduction	p. 117
Ontogenetic processes: early attachment relationships, parental rearing styles, and their relationship with depression	p. 121
The ethological analysis of deviant behavior	p. 122
Association between observable behavior and depression	p. 124
Disturbed interpersonal behavior as a possible causal factor in depression	p. 128
Are causal factors of depression linked to adverse early experiences?	p. 131
Possible evolutionary explanations of depression	p. 132
Discussion: why psychiatry needs ethology	p. 133
References	p. 136
Evolutionary theory and the concept of mental disorder	p. 141
Darwin, functional explanation, and the philosophy of psychiatry	p. 143
Functional explanation: Aristotle, Lucretius, Darwin	p. 144
Culver and Gert on distinct sustaining causes	p. 152
The designed-defense objection	p. 161
Nordenfelt's critique of evolutionary approaches to disorder	p. 165
References	p. 171
Evolutionary foundations for psychiatric diagnosis: making DSM-V valid	p. 173
Diagnosis and its discontents	p. 174
From clinical diagnosis to the DSM	p. 176
The price of progress	p. 179
The basic fault	p. 181
Evolution and emotions	p. 183
Emotional disorders	p. 186
The importance of analyzing motivational structure	p. 190
Towards an evolutionary foundation for psychiatric nosology	p. 191
References	p. 194
Normality, disorder, and evolved function: the case of depression	p. 198
Introduction	p. 199
Inductive evidence for a categorical depression/normality distinction	p. 200
Evolved functions, dysfunctions, and depression	p. 203
The challenge of individual variation	p. 208
Disorder versus complaint as the basis for identifying depression	p. 210
Conclusion	p. 213
References	p. 213
Function, dysfunction, and adaptation?	p. 216
Introduction	p. 217
The two-stage view	p. 217
Theories of function	p. 219
Dysfunction	p. 228
Dysfunction and the role of science	p. 231
Conclusion	p. 235
Acknowledgments	p. 236
References	p. 236
Psychopathology, evolution, and human nature	p. 239
Mirroring the mind: on empathy and autism	p. 241
Introduction	p. 241
Autism spectrum conditions: a lack of ômirroringö and empathy	p. 245
The genetics of autism spectrum conditions	p. 248
Evolution of autistic traits: low empathy	p. 252
Conclusion	p. 258
Acknowledgments	p. 259
References	p. 259
The role of mood change in defining relationships: a tribute to Gregory Bateson (1904-1980)	p. 264
Introduction	p. 264
The overthrown tyrant: a clinical case illustration	p. 266
Darwin, Huxley, and sexual selection	p. 268
Ritual agonistic behavior and ritual losing	p. 270
A triune mind in a triune brain	p. 272
Gregory Bateson: defining the relationship	p. 276
Conclusion	p. 281
Appendix 10.1	p. 283
References	p. 286
From ôevolved interpersonal relatednessö to ôcostly social alienation:ö an evolutionary neurophilosophy of schizophrenia	p. 289
Introduction	p. 289
A philosophy of embodiment	p. 292
The evolution and development of the social brain	p. 294
Schizophrenia and the evolutionary paradigm	p. 298
ôInterpersonal alienationö from the social world	p. 299
Schizophrenia as a social brain disorder	p. 301
Resolving the ôschizophrenia problemö in evolutionary terms	p. 302
References	p. 304
Index	p. 309
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