Philosophers discuss Jerome Wakefield's influential view of mental disorder as "harmful dysfunction," with detailed responses from Wakefield himself.

One of the most pressing theoretical problems of psychiatry is the definition of mental disorder. Jerome Wakefield's proposal that mental disorder is "harmful dysfunction" has been both influential and widely debated; philosophers have been notably skeptical about it. This volume provides the first book-length collection of responses by philosophers to Wakefield's harmful dysfunction analysis (HDA), offering a survey of philosophical critiques as well as extensive and detailed replies by Wakefield himself.
Introduction ix 
Denis Forest and Luc Faucher 
Wakefield Critiques: Introductory Comments xxix 
Jerome Wakefield 
I On Conceptual Analysis 
1 DSM in the Light of HDA (and Conversely) 3 
Steeves Demazeux 
2 From Ribot and Dupré to Spitzer and RDoC: Does the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis Possess Historical Explanatory Power? Reply to Steeves Demazeux 27 
Jerome Wakefield 
3 Facts, Facts, Facts: HD Analysis Goes Factual 47 
Luc Faucher 
4 Do the Empirical Facts Support the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Luc Faucher 71 
Jerome Wakefield 
5 Against the Disorder/Nondisorder Dichotomy 97 
Leen De Vreese 
6 Do Clinicians Understand the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis of Mental Disorder? Reply to Leen De Vreese 109 
Jerome Wakefield 
7 Doing without “Disorder” in the Study of Psychopathology 123 
Harold Kincaid 
8 Quinian Qualms, or Does Psychiatry Really Need the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Harold Kincaid 133 
Jerome Wakefield
II The Demarcation Problem 
9 Psychiatric Disorders and the Imperfect Community: A Nominalist HDA 157 
Peter Zachar 
10 Can a Nonessentialist Neo-Empiricist Analysis of Mental Disorder Replace the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Peter Zachar 177 
Jerome Wakefield 
III The Dysfunction Component
11 Is the Dysfunction Component of the “Harmful Dysfunction Analysis” Stipulative? 199 
Maël Lemoine 
12 Is the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis Descriptive or Stipulative, and Is the HDA or BST the Better Naturalist Account of Dysfunction? Reply to Maël Lemoine 213 
Jerome Wakefield 
13 Function and Dysfunction 251 
Dominic Murphy 
14 Can Causal Role Functions Yield Objective Judgments of Medical Dysfunction and Replace the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis’s Evolutionary Component? Reply to Dominic Murphy 267 
Jerome Wakefield 
15 Do the Works of Carl Craver or Marcel Weber Explain How Causal Role Functions Can Provide Objective Medical Judgments of Dysfunction? Supplementary Reply to Dominic Murphy 317 
Jerome Wakefield 
16 The Developmental Plasticity Challenge to Wakefield’s View 335 
Justin Garson 
17 Does Developmental Plasticity Pose a Challenge to the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Justin Garson 353 
Jerome Wakefield 
18 Biological Function Hierarchies and Indeterminacy of Dysfunction: Supplementary Reply to Justin Garson 385 
Jerome Wakefield 
19 Harmful Dysfunction and the Science of Salience: Adaptations and Adaptationism 397 
Philip Gerrans
20 Are Cognitive Neuroscience and the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis Competitors or Allies? Reply to Philip Gerrans 415 
Jerome Wakefield 
21 Autistic Spectrum, Normal Variation, and Harmful Dysfunction 
Denis Forest 433 
22 Do the Challenges of Autism and Neurodiversity Pose an Objection to the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Denis Forest 449 
Jerome Wakefield 
23 Naturalism and Dysfunction 469 
Tim Thornton 
24 Is Indeterminacy of Biological Function an Objection to the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Tim Thornton 485 
Jerome Wakefield 
IV The Harmful Component 
25 Harmless Dysfunctions and the Problem of Normal Variation 
Andreas De Block and Jonathan Sholl 495 
26 Can the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis Distinguish Problematic Normal Variation from Disorder? Reply to Andreas De Block and Jonathan Sholl 511 
Jerome Wakefield 
27 On Harm 537 
Rachel Cooper 
28 Must Social Values Play a Role in the Harm Component of the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Rachel Cooper 553 
Jerome Wakefield 
29 Are There Naturally Selected Disorders? Supplementary Reply to Rachel Cooper 577 
Jerome Wakefield 
Contributors 593 
Index 595

About

Philosophers discuss Jerome Wakefield's influential view of mental disorder as "harmful dysfunction," with detailed responses from Wakefield himself.

One of the most pressing theoretical problems of psychiatry is the definition of mental disorder. Jerome Wakefield's proposal that mental disorder is "harmful dysfunction" has been both influential and widely debated; philosophers have been notably skeptical about it. This volume provides the first book-length collection of responses by philosophers to Wakefield's harmful dysfunction analysis (HDA), offering a survey of philosophical critiques as well as extensive and detailed replies by Wakefield himself.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix 
Denis Forest and Luc Faucher 
Wakefield Critiques: Introductory Comments xxix 
Jerome Wakefield 
I On Conceptual Analysis 
1 DSM in the Light of HDA (and Conversely) 3 
Steeves Demazeux 
2 From Ribot and Dupré to Spitzer and RDoC: Does the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis Possess Historical Explanatory Power? Reply to Steeves Demazeux 27 
Jerome Wakefield 
3 Facts, Facts, Facts: HD Analysis Goes Factual 47 
Luc Faucher 
4 Do the Empirical Facts Support the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Luc Faucher 71 
Jerome Wakefield 
5 Against the Disorder/Nondisorder Dichotomy 97 
Leen De Vreese 
6 Do Clinicians Understand the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis of Mental Disorder? Reply to Leen De Vreese 109 
Jerome Wakefield 
7 Doing without “Disorder” in the Study of Psychopathology 123 
Harold Kincaid 
8 Quinian Qualms, or Does Psychiatry Really Need the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Harold Kincaid 133 
Jerome Wakefield
II The Demarcation Problem 
9 Psychiatric Disorders and the Imperfect Community: A Nominalist HDA 157 
Peter Zachar 
10 Can a Nonessentialist Neo-Empiricist Analysis of Mental Disorder Replace the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Peter Zachar 177 
Jerome Wakefield 
III The Dysfunction Component
11 Is the Dysfunction Component of the “Harmful Dysfunction Analysis” Stipulative? 199 
Maël Lemoine 
12 Is the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis Descriptive or Stipulative, and Is the HDA or BST the Better Naturalist Account of Dysfunction? Reply to Maël Lemoine 213 
Jerome Wakefield 
13 Function and Dysfunction 251 
Dominic Murphy 
14 Can Causal Role Functions Yield Objective Judgments of Medical Dysfunction and Replace the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis’s Evolutionary Component? Reply to Dominic Murphy 267 
Jerome Wakefield 
15 Do the Works of Carl Craver or Marcel Weber Explain How Causal Role Functions Can Provide Objective Medical Judgments of Dysfunction? Supplementary Reply to Dominic Murphy 317 
Jerome Wakefield 
16 The Developmental Plasticity Challenge to Wakefield’s View 335 
Justin Garson 
17 Does Developmental Plasticity Pose a Challenge to the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Justin Garson 353 
Jerome Wakefield 
18 Biological Function Hierarchies and Indeterminacy of Dysfunction: Supplementary Reply to Justin Garson 385 
Jerome Wakefield 
19 Harmful Dysfunction and the Science of Salience: Adaptations and Adaptationism 397 
Philip Gerrans
20 Are Cognitive Neuroscience and the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis Competitors or Allies? Reply to Philip Gerrans 415 
Jerome Wakefield 
21 Autistic Spectrum, Normal Variation, and Harmful Dysfunction 
Denis Forest 433 
22 Do the Challenges of Autism and Neurodiversity Pose an Objection to the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Denis Forest 449 
Jerome Wakefield 
23 Naturalism and Dysfunction 469 
Tim Thornton 
24 Is Indeterminacy of Biological Function an Objection to the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Tim Thornton 485 
Jerome Wakefield 
IV The Harmful Component 
25 Harmless Dysfunctions and the Problem of Normal Variation 
Andreas De Block and Jonathan Sholl 495 
26 Can the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis Distinguish Problematic Normal Variation from Disorder? Reply to Andreas De Block and Jonathan Sholl 511 
Jerome Wakefield 
27 On Harm 537 
Rachel Cooper 
28 Must Social Values Play a Role in the Harm Component of the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis? Reply to Rachel Cooper 553 
Jerome Wakefield 
29 Are There Naturally Selected Disorders? Supplementary Reply to Rachel Cooper 577 
Jerome Wakefield 
Contributors 593 
Index 595