Professor Bill Fulford (Philosophy, University of Warwick; Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, University of Oxford)

Philosophy and Psychiatry in the 20th Century: Four Looks Back and a Brief Look Forward

The final decade of the 20th century witnessed a remarkable explosion of interest in cross-disciplinary work between philosophy and psychiatry. This paper looks briefly at four different ways of understanding the relationship between philosophy and psychiatry in the 20th century. These four “looks back” reflect four different ways of understanding the relationship between philosophy and science: 1) science as a philosophy-free zone, 2) philosophy as a primitive science, 3) philosophy as a precursor to science, and 4) philosophy as a partner to science. The “partnership model” points to a 21st century psychiatry in which philosophical and scientific methods are the basis for an enriched clinical discipline.