Operationalizing the Whole of Psychic Life: Toward a Structured Framework for Psychopathology.

Psychiatry's focus on discrete behavioral constructs has increased reliability but fragmented the understanding of mental life as a coherent whole, creating a paradox of 'more data, less coherence.' The authors revisit Karl Jaspers' concept of the whole of psychic life and propose five guiding principles—relationality, historicity, subjectivity, intentionality, and indeterminacy—to translate classical phenomenology into a framework usable in contemporary psychiatry, statistics, and neuroscience. They develop tools to isolate patterns of experience without treating them as autonomous entities, allowing reductionism as a local method rather than a global framework. The framework aims to restore context to clinical practice and integrate subjective experience with biological data.

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Abstract

Contemporary psychiatry has advanced by decomposing behavior into discrete constructs, improving reliability but fragmenting conceptual foundations. Excessive comorbidity, blurred diagnostic boundaries, and the reification of operational criteria have created a gap between empirical data and the understanding of mental life as a coherent, lived whole - the modern paradox of "more data, less coherence." We revisit Karl Jaspers' notion of the whole of psychic life (Ganze des Seelenlebens) as a foundational reference. After clarifying Jaspers' methodological framework - emphasizing the complementary roles of phenomenological description, understanding (Verstehen), and causal explanation (Erklären) - we propose an "upframing" of his concept through five guiding principles: relationality, historicity, subjectivity, intentionality, and indeterminacy. These principles translate classical phenomenology into a conceptual framework that can be operationalized in contemporary psychiatry, statistics, and neuroscience. We also develop practical tools to isolate patterns of experience without treating them as autonomous entities, allowing reductionism to function as a local methodological tool rather than a global explanatory framework. Finally, we discuss implications for diagnostic systems, transdiagnostic research, and emerging technologies. Re centering inquiry on the whole of psychic life restores context to clinical practice and integrates subjective experience with biological data. The five proposed principles offer a structured, operationalizable approach to Jaspers' legacy. This framework provides a coherent point of reference for psychiatric education, research design, and the interpretation of neurobiological findings without losing the human core of the discipline.