Phenomenology and the Social Context of Psychiatry: Social Relations, Psychopathology, and Husserl's Philosophy

Description

This book explores phenomenological philosophy as it relates to psychiatry and the social world, seeking to establish a common language between psychiatrists, anti-psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers. Phenomenology and the Social Context of Psychiatry is an inter-disciplinary effort by phenomenological philosophers, psychiatrists, and psychologists to discover the essence and foundations of social psychiatry. Using the phenomenology of Husserl as a point of departure, the meanings of empathy, interpersonal understanding, we-intentionality, ethics, citizenship and social inclusion are investigated in relation to psychopathology, nosology, and clinical research. This work, drawing upon the rich classical and contemporary phenomenological tradition, touching on a broad range of thinkers such as Deleuze, Levinas, and R.D. Laing, also explicates how phenomenology is a method capable of capturing the human condition and its intricate relation to the social world and mental illness.

Magnus Englander is Associate Professor at the Department of Social Work at Malmo University, Sweden. Englander teaches courses on phenomenology, philosophy of mind and social cognition, psychopathology, general psychology, and research methodology. Englander is the author of multiple scientific articles in phenomenological psychology and since 2014 he also serves as the Book Review Editor for the Journal of Phenomenological Psychology. He is also an Adjunct Faculty Member at Saybrook University, Oakland, USA.

Contributors include clinicians and scholars from the US and northern Europe; their varied perspectives provide a multifaceted view of the contributions phenomenological approaches can make to psychological research ... Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, and faculty. * CHOICE * This is a scholarly and thought provoking book, written by philosophically sophisticated contributors, that provides an appealing vision of psychiatry that takes seriously the social dimension of human existence. It includes several chapters that have direct clinical relevance. I believe that it would interest a broad range of readers and scholars, especially in psychology and philosophy. -- Steen Halling, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, Seattle University, USA