Understanding, schizophrenia, and the limits of phenomenology
Theory & Psychology July 28, 2024 DOI: 10.1177/09593543241266618 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that the dichotomy between psychological understandability and naturalistic explanation, central to Jaspers' account of schizophrenia, remains present in some current phenomenological research despite explicit critiques of empathic understanding. Proposes that Lacanian theories of subjectivity allow recognition of the impossibility of understanding without naturalistic explanation, and that integrating Merleau-Ponty's insights beyond conscious awareness can renew appreciation of the un-understandable in schizophrenia and all human experience. |
Abstract
Karl Jaspers’ assertion of the un-understandability of schizophrenic psychosis, which rests on a division between what is psychologically understandable and what must be explained via natural causation, has faced numerous challenges from within phenomenological psychopathology. But despite significant developments in the phenomenology of schizophrenia, I suggest that this dichotomy, between psychological understandability and naturalistic explanation, is still present in some phenomenological research on schizophrenia today, even in work that explicitly critiques the limitations of empathic understanding and the purported incomprehensibility of schizophrenic delusions. Other theories of subjectivity, particularly those in the Lacanian tradition, offer one way to recognize the impossibility of understanding without turning to naturalistic explanation. These theories may encourage us to better integrate other key insights in phenomenology, most clearly articulated in the work of Merleau-Ponty, that look beyond “conscious” awareness—those that allow for a renewed appreciation of the un-understandable in schizophrenia, and indeed in all human experience.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 7
- The neurophenomenology of early psychosis: An integrative empirical study. Consciousness and Cognition November 1, 2019
- Editorial: Situating phenomenological psychopathology: subjective experience within the world Frontiers in Psychology August 25, 2023
- Overcoming Hermeneutical Injustice in Mental Health: A Role for Critical Phenomenology Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology January 31, 2022
- Paving the way for systemic phenomenological psychiatry - the forgotten heritage of Wolfgang Blankenburg. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2022
- Do delusions have and give meaning? Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences August 23, 2021
and 2 more in the library