Psychological concepts and biological psychiatry : a philosophical analysis

362 Pages·2000·1.347 MB·English

by  Zachar, Peter

PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
AND BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
ADVANCES IN CONSCIOUSNESS RESEARCH
ADVANCES IN CONSCIOUSNESS RESEARCH provides a forum for scholars
from different scientific disciplines and fields of knowledge who study conscious-
ness in its multifaceted aspects. Thus the Series will include (but not be limited to)
the various areas of cognitive science, including cognitive psychology, linguistics,
brain science and philosophy. The orientation of the Series is toward developing
new interdisciplinary and integrative approaches for the investigation, description
and theory of consciousness, as well as the practical consequences of this research
for the individual and society.
Series A: Theory and Method. Contributions on the development of theory and
method in the study consciousness.
EDITOR
Maxim I. Stamenov
(Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
EDITORIAL BOARD
David Chalmers (University of Arizona)
Gordon G. Globus (University of California at Irvine)
Ray Jackendoff (Brandeis University)
Christof Koch (California Institute of Technology)
Stephen Kosslyn (Harvard University)
Earl Mac Cormac (Duke University)
George Mandler (University of California at San Diego)
John R. Searle (University of California at Berkeley)
Petra Stoerig (Universität Düsseldorf)
Francisco Varela (C.R.E.A., Ecole Polytechnique, Paris)
Volume 28
Peter Zachar
Psychological Concepts and Biological Psychiatry
A philosophical analysis
PSYCHOLOGICAL
CONCEPTS AND
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
A PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS
PETER ZACHAR
Auburn University Montgomery
JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY
AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
8 American National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48–1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zachar, Peter.
Psychogological concepts and biological psychiatry : a philosophical analysis / Peter Zachar.
p. cm. -- (Advances in consciousness research, ISSN 1381-589X ; v. 28)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Psychology--Philosophy. 2. Psychiatry--Philosophy. I. Title. II. Series.
BF38.Z33 2000
150’.1--dc21 00-056430
ISBN 90 272 5148 7 (Eur.) / 1 55619 991 0 (US) (Pb)
© 2000 - John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other
means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. • P.O.Box 75577 • 1070 AN Amsterdam • The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America • P.O.Box 27519 • Philadelphia PA 19118-0519 • USA
Dedicated to John Naumann
for his independence, intelligence, and irreverence

Acknowledgments
Writing a book is an isolating experience. Most of the time it is just you and
the computer, and you and the printout day after day, month after month, and
in my case, year after year. The isolation does not consist in actually doing the
writing because that can be entertaining and creatively fulfilling, rather the
isolation consists in putting so much effort into the writing without knowing
how people will react to it, and sometimes not being able to tell anyone, in a
way that they will understand, what exactly it is that you are writing. A huge
chunk of your life is invested in something that, until it is published, is cut off
from human contact.
For this reason those persons who were willing to read an occasional
chapter, or even patted me on the back for trying to do something so lofty,
deserve more thanks than I can acknowledge in three or four paragraphs.
At the top of the list sit Ralph Ellis and Jeffery Kramer. Ralph Ellis
represents what every scholar should be. Lacking aristocratic pretensions and
disciplinary chauvinism, he is interested in philosophy for all the right rea-
sons. Without Ralph Ellis’s reacting to my work with genuine interest, this
book would still be sitting isolated on a computer disc. Jeffrey Kramer is an
old friend and the best psychological diagnostician I have ever met. He
carefully read through every chapter in the book, enhanced its substance with
his psychological insights, and helped me clarify the philosophical arguments
with his targeted questions.
Also sitting at the top of the list for slightly different reasons are Allen
Kenneth Hess and Dr. Thomas Mitchell. Since my college days, I always
intended to be an academic, but my research interests did not find favor on the
psychology job market. When I met Allen Hess, and we spent an afternoon
discussing both Paul Meehl and the pragmatic basis of interpersonal psychia-
try, he was not only willing to hire me — he wanted to hire me. He always
encouraged me while I was writing this book, and as department head pro-
vided me with the institutional support to do so. Tom Mitchell played a similar
role earlier in my life. He encouraged me to pursue my interests when I was
viii PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS AND BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
beginning to write my doctoral dissertation, and provided me with the institu-
tional protection to carry the project through. I consider him a good friend.
Various and sundry people have read and commented on selected chap-
ters. I appreciate their comments and in several cases, they gave me arguments
that I had not considered, or prevented me from making some claims that were
better left unmade. This list includes Michael Wright, Steve LoBello, Conal
O’Clerigh, Scottus Bartlett, Glen Ray, David Walker, John Sadler and two
anonymous reviewers, Kelly Smith, Chris Coleman, Garth Gillan, Thom
Irelan, and Sheila Mehta.
Others provided moral support at various times during this project —
even if they did not know it. Included in this group are my every day
colleagues in the psychology department at AUM, especially Glen Earl Ray,
and also Steve LoBello, Pam Tidwell, Sheila Mehta, and Cy Sadowski; plus
colleagues and former teachers such as J. Hugo Stephenson, Don Mullison,
Ron Schemck, James McHose, Alan Vaux, Sam Cochran, Audrey Bahrick,
Fred Leong, and Mark Johnson. I would also like to thank Kevin Looby,
Karen Michaeli, Robert Russell, Ken Boe, Don Wood, Doctor Who, Jean-Luc
Picard, and the great Paul Meehl who always answered my letters to him and
once even sent me a cassette tape response.
I thank my parents and my family, although they will like the idea of a
book better than they like this book itself. But this book does have practical
value. If you really believe that nobody gets four, then when you are dealt
twelve you won’t think about laying down. Your desire to win will not be
fulfilled, and you’ll have to go watch T.V. William James called that cash
value.
Table of Contents
Preface: What this book is about xv
PART I: THE ATTACK ON PSYCHOLOGY 1
1. Psychology In Trouble 3
1. Introduction 3
2. The Confabulation Problem 5
3. The Devil’s Advocates 13
4. Replacements for Psychology? 15
5. Plan of the Book 17
2. Trouble From Psychiatry: Biomedical Materialism 21
1. Introduction 21
2. The Brain as the Substrate of Psychological States 22
3. The Brain as the Organ of the Mind 27
4. A Short History of Biomedical Materialism 30
5. Contemporary Biomedical Materialism: The Neo-Kraepelinians
and Beyond 36
6. Biomedical Psychiatry and Humanitarianism 41
7. The Anti-psychiatry Critique of the Biomedical Model 45
8. Conclusion 48
3. Trouble From Philosophy: Eliminative Materialism 51
1. Introduction 51
2. A Short History of Eliminative Materialism 51
3. All Language/Knowledge is Theoretical 55
4. Scientific Realism 60
5. Folk Psychology is a False Theory 61
6. The Potential Advantages of Eliminativism 66
7. Comparing Biomedical and Eliminative Materialism 68
8. Conclusion 74
x PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS AND BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
PART II: THE ROBUSTNESS OF PSYCHOLOGY 77
4. Why There is No Such Thing as “Folk Psychology” 79
1. Introduction 79
2. Folk Psychology as a Conceptual System 79
3. Folk Psychology as a Pejorative Term 82
4. Folk Psychology: Common Sense Defined as Consensus 84
5. Folk Psychology as Superficial Appearances 91
6. Folk Psychology as Self-Evident 93
7. Folk Psychology as a Degenerating Research Program 97
8. Folk Psychology as Antithetical to the Natural Sciences 104
9. Conclusion 105
5. A Critique of Anti-anthropomorphism 107
1. Introduction 107
2. Behaviorism as Eliminativism 107
3. The Construction of Anti-anthropomorphism in Psychology 109
4. Ethology’s Rejection of Eliminativism 113
5. Eliminativism, Science, and Scientism 115
6. Narrow Strategies Versus Narrow Philosophies 120
7. Conclusion 121
6. The Anchors of Psychology 123
1. Introduction
2. Psychology Is a Level of Analysis Between Internal and
External Worlds 124
The concept of levels and the framework of psychology 124
Substrates as tautologies and as advancements 128
Levels of analysis and explanatory pluralism 130
What is a molar account? 132
Psychology as an integrative framework 134
3. Psychology Is Explanation with Reference to What Is in the
Head 135
Head versus world debates in clinical psychology 137
Head versus world debates in philosophical psychology 140
4. Psychology Is Understanding with Reference to the Self 144
The concept of self as fundamental 144
The genesis of self-other distinctions equals the growth of
psychological mindedness 145