SOCI 136F Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Thomas Szasz, Involuntary Commitment, Jargon
Document Summary
Is there such a thing as mental illness: szasz says no. Mental illness as a sign of brain disease. Disorders of thinking and behavior are diseases of the brain, not mind. Mental illnesses are regarded as same as other medical diseases: searching for a subtle neurological defect that will explain all thinking and behavior disorders, only difference is where and what symptoms are. This view is wrong: a disease of the brain is a neurological defect, not a problem in living. Beliefs cannot be explained by a defect or nervous system disease. They are not symptoms or expressions of something else: epistemological error- interpreting communications about ourselves and the world around us as symptoms of neurological functioning is an error in the organization and expression of knowledge. Making a dualism between mental and physical symptoms which is a habit of speech rather than result of known observations.
