Psychopathology and the Ability to Do Otherwise
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10346448 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Harry Pickard (0000-0001-5926-1377, University of Oxford, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 90 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 135-163 |
| Publication date | 2013-04-08 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8205 • E-ISSN: 1933-1592 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/phpr.12025 |
| PMID | 25929318 |
| PMCID | PMC4412198 |
| OpenAlex | W2121410217 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 23 |
| References cited | 72 |
When philosophers want an example of a person who lacks the ability to do otherwise, they turn to psychopathology. Addicts, agoraphobics, kleptomaniacs, neurotics, obsessives, and even psychopathic serial murderers, are all purportedly subject to irresistible desires that compel the person to act: no alternative possibility is supposed to exist. I argue that this conception of psychopathology is false and offer an empirically and clinically informed understanding of disorders of agency which preserves the ability to do otherwise. First, I appeal to standard clinical treatment for disorders of agency and argue that it undermines this conception of psychopathology. Second, I offer a detailed discussion of addiction, where our knowledge of the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning the disorder is relatively advanced. I argue that neurobiology notwithstanding, addiction is not a form of compulsion and I explain how addiction can impair behavioural control without extinguishing it. Third, I step back from addiction, and briefly sketch what the philosophical landscape more generally looks like without psychopathological compulsion: we lose our standard purported real‐world example of psychologically determined action. I conclude by reflecting on the centrality of choice and free will to our concept of action, and their potency within clinical treatment for disorders of agency
Action (physics · Addiction · Agency (philosophy · Epistemology · Psychiatry · Psychopathology · Psychotherapist · Sense of agency · Sketch · Free Will and Agency · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Philosophy · Psychology · Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments · Social Psychology
Neuroethics
Responsibility without Blame for Addiction
Drug Courts and the ‘Responsibility without Blame’ Approach
What is the Difference between Weakness of Will and Compulsion
Unavoidable actions
Torturous withdrawal
“Terminal Anorexia”, Treatment Refusal and Decision-Making Capacity
(The possibility of) responsibility for delusions
Craving for drugs
Addiction and the self
A puzzle about excuses
Affective scaffolding in addiction
Agency and Varieties of Felt Necessity
Knowledge and the Onslaught of Desire
Seeing Responsibility
Responsibility and the Social Dimension of Addiction
Re-socializing the Vulnerable Brain
Addiction, Chronic Illness, and Responsibility
Explaining Irrational Actions
Delusional evidence-responsiveness
The life project account of eating disorders
Police Obligations to Aggressors with Mental Illness
Affect, Autonomy, Authenticity, and the Assessment of Decision‐Making Capacity
Ethics
Theory of Addiction
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR)
Willing, Wanting, Waiting
Addiction Is a Brain Disease, and It Matters
Prevalence, Correlates, Disability, and Comorbidity of DSM-IV Drug Abuse and Dependence in the United States
Coping, expectancies, and alcohol abuse
Substance Use Disorders in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Prevalence, Correlates, Disability, and Comorbidity of DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence in the United States
Neural systems of reinforcement for drug addiction
Masked Abilities and Compatibilism
Who drinks and why? A review of socio-demographic, personality, and contextual issues behind the drinking motives in young people
Understanding reasons for drug use amongst young people
Comorbidity of Mental Disorders With Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse
The Self-Medication Hypothesis of Substance Use Disorders
Self-Efficacy
Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person
How therapeutic communities work
Essays on Actions and Events
An Enquiry Concerning the Human Understanding, and an Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
Agency and Responsibility
A Metaphysics for Freedom
The need to belong
| Unique citing works | 23 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1.92 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2026 (13) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 23 |