Dementia: Mind, Meaning, and the Person (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry)

Dementia is an illness that raises important questions about our own attitudes to illness and aging. It also raises very important issues beyond the bounds of dementia to do with how we think of ourselves as people - fundamental questions about personal identity. Is the person with dementia the same person he or she was before? Is the individual with dementia a person at all? In a striking way, dementia seems to threaten the very existence of the self. This book brings together philosophers and practitioners to explore the conceptual issues that arise in connection with this increasingly common illness. Drawing on a variety of philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, Hume, Wittgenstein, the authors explore the nature of personal identity in dementia. They also show how the lives and selfhood of people with dementia can be enhanced by attention to their psychosocial and spiritual environment. Throughout, the book conveys a strong ethical message, arguing in favour of treating people with dementia with all the dignity they deserve as human beings. The book covers a range of topics, stretching from talk of basic biology to talk of a spiritual understanding of people with dementia. Accessibly written by leading figures in psychiatry and philosophy, the book presents a unique and long overdue examination of an illness that features in so many of our lives. Seeing whole / Julian C. Hughes, Stephen J. Louw, and Steven R. Sabat Ageing and human nature / Michael Bavidge Dementia and personal identity / A. Harry Lesser Identity: self and dementia / John McMillan Into the darkness: losing identity with dementia / Jennifer Radden and Joan M. Fordyce Can the self disintegrate?: personal identity, psychopathology, and disunities of consciousness / E. Jonathan Lowe Keeping track, autobiography, and the conditions for self-erosion / Michael Luntley The discursive turn, social constructionism, and dementia / Tim Thornton The return of the living dead: agency lost and found? / Carmelo Aquilina and Julian C. Hughes Dementia and the identity of the person / Eric Matthews Meaning-making in dementia: a hermeneutic perspective / Guy A. M. Widdershoven and Ron L. P. Berghmans I am, thou art: personal identity in dementia / Catherine Oppenheimer Spiritual perspectives on the person with dementia: identity and personhood / F. Brian Allen and Peter G. Coleman Respectare: moral respect for the lives of the deeply forgetful / Stephen G. Post Understandings of dementia: explanatory models and their implications for the person with dementia and therapeutic effort / Murna Downs, Linda Clare, and Jenny Mackenzie Personhood and interpersonal communication in dementia / Lisa Snyder From childhood to childhood? autonomy and dependence through the ages of life / Harry Cayton Mind, meaning, and personhood in dementia: the effects of positioning / Steven R. Sabat.

Dementia is an illness that raises important questions about our own attitudes to illness and aging. It also raises very important issues beyond the bounds of dementia to do with how we think of ourselves as people—fundamental questions about personal identity. Is the person with dementia the same person he or she was before? Is the individual with dementia a person at all? In a striking way, dementia seems to threaten the very existence of the self.
This book brings together philosophers and practitioners to explore the conceptual issues that arise in connection with this increasingly common illness. Drawing on a variety of philosophers such as Descartes, Lock, Hume, Wittgenstein, the authors explore the nature of personal identity in dementia. They also show how the lives and selfhood of people with dementia can be enhanced by attention to their psychological and spiritual environment. Throughout, the book conveys a strong ethical message, arguing in favor of treating people with dementia with all the dignity they deserve as human beings. The book covers a range of topics, stretching from talk of basic biology to talk of a spiritual understanding of people with dementia. Accessibly written by leading figures in psychiatry and philosophy, the book presents a unique and long overdue examination of an illness that features in so many of our lives.

Cover......Page 1 Preface......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Contents......Page 12 List of contributors......Page 14 1. Seeing whole......Page 18 2. Ageing and human nature......Page 58 3. Dementia and personal identity......Page 72 4. Identity, self, and dementia......Page 80 5. Into the darkness: losing identity with dementia......Page 88 6. Can the self disintegrate? Personal identity, psychopathology, and disunities of consciousness......Page 106 7. Keeping track, autobiography, and the conditions for self-erosion......Page 122 8. The discursive turn, social constructionism, and dementia......Page 140 9. The return of the living dead: agency lost and found?......Page 160 10. Dementia and the identity of the person......Page 180 11. Meaning-making in dementia: a hermeneutic perspective......Page 196 12. I am, thou art: personal identity in dementia......Page 210 13. Spiritual perspectives on the person with dementia: identity and personhood......Page 222 14. Respectare: moral respect for the lives of the deeply forgetful......Page 240 15. Understandings of dementia......Page 252 16. Personhood and interpersonal communication in dementia......Page 276 17. From childhood to childhood?......Page 294 18. Mind, meaning, and personhood in dementia: the effects of positioning......Page 304 Index......Page 320 Dementia: mind, meaning, and the person brings together philosophers and psychiatrists to explore the conceptual issues raised by this increasingly common illness. Drawing on a variety of philosophers, the authors explore the nature of personal identity in dementia. They show how the lives and selfhood of people with dementia can be enhanced by attention to their psychosocial and spritual environment. Accessibly written by leading figures in psychiatry andphilosophy, the book presents a unique and long overdue examination of an illness that features in so many of our lives This study juxtaposes philosophical analysis and clinical experience to present an overview of the issues surrounding dementia. It conveys a strong ethical message, arguing in favour of treating people with dementia with all the dignity they deserve as human beings