Affordances and 3E Psychopathology

A shared problem in psychology, psychiatry, and philosophy is how to define mental disorders. Various theories have been proposed, ranging from naturalism to social constructionism. In this article, I first briefly introduce the current landscape of such theories, before concentrating on one of the most influential approaches today: The harmful dysfunction theory developed by Jerome Wakefield. It claims that mental disorders are hybrid phenomena since they have a natural basis in dysfunctional mental mechanisms, but also a cultural component in the harm experienced by human beings. Although the theory is well thought through, I will raise a critical question: Is it possible to isolate mental mechanisms as naturally evolved from cultural factors? I will argue that it is not, but that the theory could still be helpful in an understanding of mental disorders, albeit on a new footing that does not operate with a natural and a cultural component as two separate factors. I argue that we need to develop a “naturecultural” approach to psychopathology that avoids mentalism, based on the fact that human beings are irreducibly persons.

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Affordances and spatial agency in psychopathology

Krueger

2023

Philosophical Psychology

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Affordances and 3E Psychopathology

Cited by 4 publications

References 9 publications

3e Cognition and Existing Enactive Frameworks

3e Cognition and Existing Enactive Frameworks

What are Mental Disorders? Exploring the Role of Culture in the Harmful Dysfunction Approach

Affordances and spatial agency in psychopathology

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