Agency in Mental Disorder: Philosophical Dimensions
Matt King and Joshua May
Abstract
How exactly do mental disorders affect one’s agency? How might therapeutic interventions help patients regain or improve their autonomy? Do only some disorders excuse morally inappropriate behavior, such as theft or child neglect? Or is there nothing about having a disorder, as such, that affects whether we ought to praise or blame someone for their moral success or failure? Our volume gathers together empirically informed philosophers who are well equipped to tackle such questions. Contributors specialize in free will, agency, and responsibility, but they are informed by current scientific an ... More
How exactly do mental disorders affect one’s agency? How might therapeutic interventions help patients regain or improve their autonomy? Do only some disorders excuse morally inappropriate behavior, such as theft or child neglect? Or is there nothing about having a disorder, as such, that affects whether we ought to praise or blame someone for their moral success or failure? Our volume gathers together empirically informed philosophers who are well equipped to tackle such questions. Contributors specialize in free will, agency, and responsibility, but they are informed by current scientific and clinical approaches to a wide range of psychopathologies, including autism, addiction, Tourette syndrome, personality disorders, depression, dementia, phobias, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. These conditions exhibit a diverse array of symptoms that can contribute quite differently to being blameworthy or praiseworthy.
Keywords:
mental disorders,
psychopathology,
agency,
blame,
free will,
responsibility,
autonomy
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2022 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780198868811 |
| Published to University Press Scholarship Online: January 2022 |
DOI:10.1093/oso/9780198868811.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Matt King, editor
Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Joshua May, editor
Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Alabama at Birmingham
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