For years, I struggled to understand my brother’s illness. Part of the problem was a confusion about the mind-brain division. Was his illness in his mind or in his brain? When I finally resolved the dilemma, I wrote this book to help others. I wanted to call it, “Mental Illness is Not in the Mind,” but my publisher insisted otherwise.
Publisher’s description:
“This accessible volume sets an ambitious goal: to help people better understand the nature of mental illness. The term itself is a problem for most who believe, consciously or not, that individuals have both a mind and a body. Ronald Chase is interested in the roots of this thinking about mental illness, and finds it in philosophical dualism, famously promoted by Rene Descartes in the seventeenth century. Chase believes this perspective contributes to the stigma associated with mental illness, and argues for a different conceptual understanding. He describes and evaluates several alternatives, including behaviorism, physicalism, and functionalism. He also explores whether mental states can be reduced to brain states, and whether mental events cause things to happen. His provocative answers suggest mind-body dualism is outdated and misleading, and some version of physicalism is more likely to help us understand mental illness.”
157 pages, 3 illustrations
Available from Routledge Press or Amazon
Publisher’s description:
“This accessible volume sets an ambitious goal: to help people better understand the nature of mental illness. The term itself is a problem for most who believe, consciously or not, that individuals have both a mind and a body. Ronald Chase is interested in the roots of this thinking about mental illness, and finds it in philosophical dualism, famously promoted by Rene Descartes in the seventeenth century. Chase believes this perspective contributes to the stigma associated with mental illness, and argues for a different conceptual understanding. He describes and evaluates several alternatives, including behaviorism, physicalism, and functionalism. He also explores whether mental states can be reduced to brain states, and whether mental events cause things to happen. His provocative answers suggest mind-body dualism is outdated and misleading, and some version of physicalism is more likely to help us understand mental illness.”
157 pages, 3 illustrations
Available from Routledge Press or Amazon
A Review by California Bookwatch
“[B]lends a fine history with philosophical and social reflections to consider whether mental states cause things to happen and how behaviorism and functionalism add to the increasing picture of mental illness… Accessible to lay readers.”