Date of Award
8-10-2021
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Philosophy
First Advisor
Daniel Weiskopf
Second Advisor
Eddy Nahmias
Abstract
Researchers attempting to explain and treat psychiatric disorders have long discussed the need for new disorder categories. A common proposal is to develop a causal classification system whereby psychiatric disorders are classified according to the causal processes that produce and sustain them. I evaluate the prospects for causal classification of psychiatric disorders. First, I motivate the need for a causal classification system of psychiatric disorders. Second, I introduce one framework for causal classification, the exemplar model. Third, I examine multiple forms of causal complexity that the exemplar model must successfully navigate if it is to be a viable classification model for psychiatry. I argue that the exemplar model can handle some issues of causal complexity but not others. I conclude that psychiatry should utilize two models of classification, the exemplar model and the network model, because each fulfills some, but not all, of the purposes of classification systems.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/23202329
Recommended Citation
Link, Richard, "Challenges to Causal Classification in Psychiatry." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2021.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/23202329
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