MW 100-220PM RC 312
Office Hours: MTW 400-530PM
Office: 330B RC
Office Phone: 244-3349
Email: perringc@dowling.edu (Please put PHL4180 in the
subject line of all emails.)
Required Book:
Ethics
of Psychiatry: Insanity, Rational Autonomy, and Mental Health Care,
edited by Rem B. Edwards. Prometheus
Books, 1997. [EP]
Course Description:
This course will survey philosophical issues in psychiatry
-- ethical, social, epistemological and metaphysical. We will focus on the following five main
areas:
Students will learn about some of the main debates in the
philosophy of psychiatry and psychology.
Through writing reflection pieces and a long research paper, students
will also develop their skills in comparing the strengths and weaknesses of
different views in psychiatric controversies, analyzing particular cases and
applying philosophical theories to their own experience.
This class on the web: You will find this class on
the web by going to http://webclasses.dowling.edu
and I encourage you to use the links and discussion boards available on the
class website.
Links to useful websites: http://www.angelfire.com/ny/metapsychology/psypsylinks.html
Prerequisites: Any two classes in Philosophy,
Psychology, Anthropology, or Sociology.
Your grade: Attendance and Participation 5%; Final
exam (open book) 30%; 7 Reflection pieces 35%; Final paper 30%.
Attendance. Attendance and participation are 5% of your
grade.
Extra credit: Students can get 5% extra credit by
doing a 15-20 minute presentation. This
presentation must be of high quality: it cannot simply be read from a paper, it
must be in the student’s own words, summarizing ideas and explaining them
clearly. Audiovisual aids can be useful,
but should not dominate the presentation.
Reflection pieces: 7 pieces, one every two
weeks. At least 500 words each: these
can be personal or abstract; they should discuss issues raised in class or in
the readings. They can bring in your
personal experience, discussions of novels, movies, TV shows, magazine and
newspaper articles, as well as what the articles in the class books.
Term Paper: Your research paper should be 12 pages,
or about 3500 words. It should discuss
academic articles and scholarly books on an issue in the philosophy of
psychiatry. It can also discuss memoirs,
novels, TV shows or movies. It is your
responsibility to come up with a topic.
I encourage you to write a draft, which is due by November 15; I will
give you feedback on your draft. It can
be a survey of views in the field, or it can take a position and argue for
it. It is essential that your paper
address a controversial issue in the philosophy of psychiatry, and that it
demonstrates an understanding of the main views taken by academics who have
addressed this issue. All papers
must be submitted electronically using turnitin.com. The paper is due by
Plagiarism and Cheating. All research for papers must be carefully
documented and footnoted. Minor
plagiarism will result in you receiving a zero grade for the work. Major plagiarism will mean you fail the
class. All plagiarism will be documented
and reported to the Dean of Students.
Week 1
Show video from library on
History of Psychiatry
Visiting Speaker: Diane Gidding,
of Clubhouse of Suffolk (www.clubhouseofsuffolk.com)
Disorders of agency
Changes of agency in mental illness
Involuntary action -- alcoholism and
addition.
Changes of agency in treatment
and therapy
Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology 3.2 (1996) 75-90
"Free Will in the Light of Neuropsychiatry"
Sean A. Spence
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/philosophy_psychiatry_and_psychology/v003/3.2spence01.html
Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology 7.2 (2000) 107-119
"Diagnosing Agency"
P. G. Campbell
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/philosophy_psychiatry_and_psychology/v007/7.2campbell01.html
Louis Charland: "Cynthia's
Dilemma: Consenting to Heroin Prescription"
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_journal_of_bioethics/toc/ajb2.2.html
Robert Wright: "Alcohol and Free Will" in EP, pp.
130-135
George Graham and G. Lynn Stephens,
"Mind and Mine," in George Graham and G. Lynn Stephens (editors), Philosophical
Psychopathology (MIT Press, 1994.)
The Mind-Body Problem
Multiple Selves
Multiple Personality
Hearing Voices
Psychopharmacology
Paul R. McHugh and Phillip R. Slavney,
The Perspectives of Psychiatry. Second edition. (Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1998). Chapter 1: The
Mind-Brain Problem and a Structure for Psychiatry.
Visiting Speaker October 2: Elizabeth Donaldson: Mad
Justice: Involuntary Medication in the Courts
Go to presentation: Perring: Prozac: Technology of the Self.
Peter Kramer: Listening to Prozac, Chapter 1:
Makeover. (Viking,
1993).
Carl Elliott: Better Than Well. Chapter 2: The True Self. (WW Norton, 2003).
Reductionism and brain science
First-person accounts versus medical descriptions
October 13
Robert Veatch, "The Medical
Model, It's Nature and Problems," EP, pp 108-129
Paul R. McHugh and Phillip R. Slavney,
The Perspectives of Psychiatry. Second edition. (Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1998). Chapter 2:
Factionalism: The Other Source of Disarray in Psychiatry.
Samuel B. Guze. Why Psychiatry Is a Branch of Medicine. (Oxford University Press,
1992). Chapters
1, 4, & 6.
Joseph Martin, "The Integration of Neurology,
Psychiatry, and Neuroscience in the 21st Century," Am J Psychiatry,
159"5, May 2002
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/159/5/695
Peter Zachar, Psychological
Concepts and Biological Psychiatry (John Benjamins,
2000). Chapter 8: Diagnosis,
Behavior, and First-Person Information.
Gerrit Glas,
"Anxiety--animal reactions and the embodiment of meaning" (from Bill Fulford et al, Nature and Narrative: An
Introduction to the New Philosophy of Psychiatry, Oxford University Press,
2003)
The definition of mental disorder:
Childhood mental disorders and relational
disorders.
Are learning disorders real?
Homosexuality, Intersexuality,
and Hermaphrodites.
Thomas Szasz, "The Myth of
Mental Illness," EP, pp. 22-32
Michael S. Moore, "Some Myths about 'Mental
Illness," EP, pp. 33-49
Rem Edwards, Mental Health as Rational
Autonomy," EP, pp. 50-62.
Jerome Wakefield, "The Concept of Mental
Disorder," EP, pp. 63-97
Richard Friedman and Jennifer Downey,
"Homosexuality," in EP, pp. 136-55.
Stephen Wilkinson, "Is '
Patricia Greenspan: Good Evolutionary Reasons: Darwinian
Psychiatry and Women's Depression
http://www.philosophy.umd.edu/Faculty/PGreenspan/Res/evol.html
Involuntary hospitalization and treatment: legal and moral
issues, ECT cases, informed consent for the mentally ill taking neuroleptics
Psychopathy and moral
responsibility
Abuse excuses, battered wife syndrome
Mental disorder and moral responsibility.
The rights of the cognitively impaired.
Psychotropics drugs and performance enhancement.
Safety of antipsychotic drugs and informed
consent.
Informed consent and psychiatric
treatment.
Insanity Defense Work Group, "APA Statement on the
Insanity Defense," EP, pp. 493-508
Lawrie Reznek,
"Psychiatry and Responsibility," EP, pp. 509-518
A. Louis McGarry, "The Nature
of Competency to Stand Trial," EP, pp. 519-523
Karl Williams, "Right of a Defendant
to Refuse Antipsychotic Medication During a Criminal Trial," pp. 524-529.
James Drane, "The Many Faces
of Competency" in EP, pp 206-17
November 13: Visiting Speaker: Melvin Woody: The
Competency of the Unabomber to Stand Trial
Heather Sones, "The Right to
Refuse Psychotropic Drugs," EP 218-224
Bruce Winick, “The Right to Refuse
Mental Health Treatment," EP, pp. 225-245
Stephen H. Behnke,
Michael L. Perlin, and Marvin Bernstein. The
Essentials of
Mental Competence in Question / Doctors: Man not fit to
refuse shock treatment:[NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition]
Zachary R. Dowdy. STAFF WRITER. Newsday. (Combined editions).Long
Man Says More Rights Violated:[
Zachary R. Dowdy. STAFF WRITER. Newsday. (Combined editions).Long
Judge: Continue Electroshocks / Pilgrim wins right to treat
patient:[NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition]
Zachary R. Dowdy. STAFF WRITER. Newsday. (Combined editions).Long
Shocking Treatment / Electroconvulsive therapy's return
stirs debate on use:[ALL EDITIONS]
Valerie Burgher.
Shock Therapy Patient Released:[
Zachary R. Dowdy. STAFF WRITER. Newsday. (Combined editions).Long
Thomas Szasz, "Involuntary
Civil Commitment," EP pp. 423-436
Donald Hermann, "A Critique of Revisions in Procedural,
Substantive, and Dispositional Criteria in Involuntary Civil Commitment,"
EP, pp. 462-483
Thomas Grisso and Paul Appelbaum, "Is It Unethical to Offer Predictions of
Future Violence?," EP, pp. 446-461
Paul Appelbaum, "The Duty to
Protect Potential Victims of Patients' Violence, EP pp 246-262
Robert Wettstein,
"Confidentiality," EP, pp. 263-281
The Tarasoff
Trial.
Stephen H. Behnke,
Michael L. Perlin, and Marvin Bernstein. The
Essentials of
VITALY TARASOFF et al. v. THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA et al., Supreme Court of California, December 23, 1974, July 1, 1976
The care of the mentally ill: abuses: NY scandals
Justice and mental health care. Managed care.
Paul S. Appelbaum, "Crazy in
the Streets" in EP pp. 537-48
Philip Boyle and Daniel Callahan. "Managed Care and Mental Health: The
Ethical Issues" Health Affairs, 14, no. 3 (Fall,
1995): 7-22
HEADLINE: For Mentally
SERIES: BROKEN HOMES -- First of three articles: A Final
Destination
BYLINE: By CLIFFORD
J. LEVY
HEADLINE: Here, Life Is Squalor and Chaos
SERIES: BROKEN HOMES: Second of three articles: Where Hope
Dies
BYLINE: By CLIFFORD
J. LEVY
HEADLINE: Voiceless, Defenseless And
a Source of Cash
SERIES: BROKEN HOMES -- Last of three articles: The
Operators
BYLINE: By CLIFFORD
J. LEVY
Week 13:
Cognitive Disability
December 3
Visiting Speaker:
Parnell Wickham (
New York Times
Sunday Magazine,
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/23/magazine/23DISABILITY.html
December 8
Sophia Wong, The Moral Relevance of Cognitive Disability,""
http://www.nyas.org/aeb/neuroethics/archives/wong062402.pdf
Links: