Abstract
Modern molecular psychiatry benefits immensely from the scientific and technological advances of general neuroscience (including genetics, epigenetics, and proteomics). This “progress” of molecular psychiatry, however, will be to a degree “unbalanced” and “epiphytic” should the development of the corresponding theoretical frameworks and conceptualization tools that allow contextualization of the individual neuroscientific findings within the specific perspective of mental health care issues be neglected. The General Psychopathology, published by Karl Jaspers in 1913, is considered a groundbreaking work in psychiatric literature, having established psychopathology as a space of critical methodological self-reflection, and delineating a scientific methodology specific to psychiatry. With the advance of neurobiology and molecular neuroscience and its adoption in psychiatric research, however, a growing alienation between current research-oriented neuropsychiatry and the classical psychopathological literature is evident. Further, consensus-based international classification criteria, although useful for providing an internationally accepted system of reliable psychiatric diagnostic categories, further contribute to a neglect of genuinely autonomous thought on psychopathology. Nevertheless, many of the unsolved theoretical problems of psychiatry, including those in the areas of nosology, anthropology, ethics, epistemology and methodology, might be fruitfully addressed by a re-examination of classic texts, such as Jaspers’s General Psychopathology, and their further development and adaptation for 21st century psychiatry.
Highlights
The young Karl Jaspers (30 years of age) published the first edition of his General Psychopathology at a time when psychiatry had only recently been solidly established as a medical and scientific discipline, and ambitious research projects, such as that of Kraepelin, were inaugurated in order to uncover the fundamental bases of psychiatric conditions
This practical aspect shares some similarities with the preparation of the Tractatus logico-philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein, who employed his labors to the advantage of philosophy, and in order to earn his doctoral degree from Cambridge University
With the publication of the General Psychopathology he began a career as philosopher, and never returned to practicing medicine or psychiatry
Summary
The young Karl Jaspers (30 years of age) published the first edition of his General Psychopathology at a time when psychiatry had only recently been solidly established as a medical and scientific discipline, and ambitious research projects, such as that of Kraepelin, were inaugurated in order to uncover the fundamental bases of psychiatric conditions. The enthusiasm for purely biological approaches in psychiatry according to Griesinger’s dictum that all psychiatric disorders were brain disorders, was already meeting with increasing skepticism; Freud, for example, who had commenced his career as a neuropathologist, had already decided to proceed within a totally different theoretical In parallel with these genuine scientific-philosophical considerations, Jaspers composed his work in order to foster his academic career. One must possess the capacity for self-criticism (Selbstkritik)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
