One Century of Karl Jaspers' General Psychopathology (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry)

2013 sees the centenary of Jaspers' foundation of psychopathology as a science in its own right. In 1913 Karl Jaspers published his psychiatric opus magnum - the __Allgemeine Psychopathologie (General Psychopathology__). Jaspers was working at a time much like our own - with rapid expansion in the neurosciences, and responding to the philosophical challenges that this raised. The idea inspiring his book was very simple: to bring order into the chaos of abnormal psychic phenomena by rigorous description, definition and classification, and to empower psychiatry with a valid and reliable method to assess and make sense of abnormal human subjectivity. After almost one century, many of the concepts challenged by Jaspers are still at issue, and Jaspers' investigation is even now the ground for analyses and discussions. With a new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) imminent, many of the issues concerning methodology and diagnosis are still the subject of much discussion and debate. This volume brings together leading psychiatrists and philosophers to discuss and evaluate the impact of this volume, its relevance today, and the legacy it left. 2013 sees the centenary of Jaspers' foundation of psychopathology as a science in its own right. In 1913 Karl Jaspers published his psychiatric opus magnum - the Allgemeine Psychopathologie (General Psychopathology). Jaspers was working at a time much like our own - with rapid expansion in the neurosciences, and responding to the philosophical challenges that this raised. The idea inspiring his book was very simple: to bring order into the chaos of abnormal psychic phenomena by rigorous description, definition and classification, and to empower psychiatry with a valid and reliable method to assess and make sense of abnormal human subjectivity. After almost one century, many of the concepts challenged by Jaspers are still at issue, and Jaspers' investigation is even now the ground for analyses and discussions. With a new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) imminent, many of the issues concerning methodology and diagnosis are still the subject of much discussion and debate. This volume brings together leading psychiatrists and philosophers to discuss and evaluate the impact of this volume, its relevance today, and the legacy it left. "Jaspers' General Psychopathology is not an easy text to read. Especially nowadays, in the Internet era, it may appear in several parts obscure, convoluted, or repetitive. This is why the present volume has the potential to be not only attractive to scholars, but also extremely useful for young psychiatrists and busy clinicians. It may represent for them a 'guide' to the reading of that ponderous text, helping them to extract the key messages that are likely to resonate with, and at the same time enrich, their clinical practice and theoretical reflection." - From the Introduction by Mario Maj Content: Cover Contents Contributors Abbreviations Editors' introduction Introduction: The relevance of Karl Jaspers' General Psychopathology to current psychiatric debate Introduction: Particular psychopathologies-lessons from Karl Jaspers' General Psychopathology for the new philosophy of psychiatry Section 1 Historical and cultural background 1 Jaspers in his time 2 Phenomenology and psychopathology: in search of a method 3 Jaspers' 'Critique of Psychoanalysis': between past and future 4 Impact of Karl Jaspers' General Psychopathology: the range of appraisal. Section 2 Methodological issues and concepts5 Karl Jaspers' General Psychopathology in the framework of clinical practice 6 Form and content in Jaspers' psychopathology 7 Jaspers, phenomenology, and the 'ontological difference' 8 Jaspers on explaining and understanding in psychiatry 9 Jaspers and neuroscience 10 Karl Jaspers the pathographer 11 Karl Jaspers' existential concept of psychotherapy 12 The ethics of incomprehensibility Section 3 Clinical concepts 13 Karl Jaspers' hierarchical principle and current psychiatric classification 14 On psychosis: Karl Jaspers and beyond. 15 Delusional atmosphere and the sense of unreality16 The self in schizophrenia: Jaspers, Schneider, and beyond 17 Understanding mood disorders: Karl Jaspers' biological existentialism 18 Reaction and development of manic and melancholic-depressive patients Author index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N P Q R S T V W Subject index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W. 2013 sees the centenary of Jaspers' foundation of psychopathology as a science with the publication of his magnum opus the 'Allgemeine Psychopathologie' ('General Psychopathology'). Many of the issues concerning methodology and diagnosis are today the subject of much discussion and debate. This volume brings together leading psychiatrists and philosophers to discuss the impact of this volume, its relevance today, and the legacy it left