"And trying to get it right,.....perpetuates the long-standing idea that, in our present state of knowledge, the recognized varieties of mental illness should neatly sort themselves into tidy blocks, in the way that plants and animals do."
Ian Hacking discussing the latest edition of the D.S.M. in the London Review of Books, 8th August 2013. Or is it the London Review of Bullshit?
Is it a mistake to hope for an end to such utter stupidity?
This review of a serial publication that is as ridiculous and offensive as "Mein Kampf" sounded like it was the radical and dismissive critique that it should have been.
After all, the doggerel that we call the D.S.M. was nearly not published this time round.
The unfortunate last sentence cited above gave the lie to this hopeful assessment.
Has Szasz's name ever been mentioned in the L.R.B.? I doubt it.
Or in its sister journal the New York Review of Books?
Incidentally, the N.Y.R.B. practically worships the paper that thinkers like Chomsky doodle on, I would add! And rightly so!
Where is the adulation and respect that Szasz deserves? When will it come?
Szasz was from a University near New York too, at Syracuse!
No "mental illness" at all exists or can exist!
Whilst a science of Palaeontology could exist - "Psychiatry" simply cannot exist as any kind of science.
I repeat that no "mental illness" at all exists or can exist.
So don't bother dividing them up!
Which example of other supposed scientific disciplines wholly based on a non-existent and illogical concept should one invoke?
For me "Economics" based atround the "concept" "Economy" is a good contender!
With "Psychiatry" it is far worse.
For whilst a science of Palaeontology could exist - "Psychiatry" simply cannot exist as any kind of science.
There is no mention whatsoever of the word and terminology "Psychiatry" - its origins as a term being in the English-speaking world - before 1846.
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Now that he has left us, Szasz is being misrepresented and denigrated from beyond the grave.
It is a truism of the history of filosofy that revolutionary ideas are suppressed or revealed gradually and gently. Quite often even by their originators.
Copernicus and Spinoza, for example, took great pains to make sure that their works were mainly published and disseminated after they themselves had died - in both cases.
Szasz was effectively a filosofer, a filosofer who has recently left us.
He knew well that speaking out and documenting the obvious defect in Medicine that was represented by Psychiatry when he became a medical doctor would be controversial and would potentially have revolutionary results.
He made the effort to present his surprisingly simple and obvious ideas and works diplomatically and sensibly.
It is a tragedy if his views - which have the potential to end so much unnecessary suffering - are in any way misrepresented now that he has gone. They indeed were misrepresented whilst this brave and courteous man lived.
Ian Hacking discussing the latest edition of the D.S.M. in the London Review of Books, 8th August 2013. Or is it the London Review of Bullshit?
Is it a mistake to hope for an end to such utter stupidity?
This review of a serial publication that is as ridiculous and offensive as "Mein Kampf" sounded like it was the radical and dismissive critique that it should have been.
After all, the doggerel that we call the D.S.M. was nearly not published this time round.
The unfortunate last sentence cited above gave the lie to this hopeful assessment.
Has Szasz's name ever been mentioned in the L.R.B.? I doubt it.
Or in its sister journal the New York Review of Books?
Incidentally, the N.Y.R.B. practically worships the paper that thinkers like Chomsky doodle on, I would add! And rightly so!
Where is the adulation and respect that Szasz deserves? When will it come?
Szasz was from a University near New York too, at Syracuse!
No "mental illness" at all exists or can exist!
Whilst a science of Palaeontology could exist - "Psychiatry" simply cannot exist as any kind of science.
I repeat that no "mental illness" at all exists or can exist.
So don't bother dividing them up!
Which example of other supposed scientific disciplines wholly based on a non-existent and illogical concept should one invoke?
For me "Economics" based atround the "concept" "Economy" is a good contender!
With "Psychiatry" it is far worse.
For whilst a science of Palaeontology could exist - "Psychiatry" simply cannot exist as any kind of science.
There is no mention whatsoever of the word and terminology "Psychiatry" - its origins as a term being in the English-speaking world - before 1846.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that he has left us, Szasz is being misrepresented and denigrated from beyond the grave.
It is a truism of the history of filosofy that revolutionary ideas are suppressed or revealed gradually and gently. Quite often even by their originators.
Copernicus and Spinoza, for example, took great pains to make sure that their works were mainly published and disseminated after they themselves had died - in both cases.
Szasz was effectively a filosofer, a filosofer who has recently left us.
He knew well that speaking out and documenting the obvious defect in Medicine that was represented by Psychiatry when he became a medical doctor would be controversial and would potentially have revolutionary results.
He made the effort to present his surprisingly simple and obvious ideas and works diplomatically and sensibly.
It is a tragedy if his views - which have the potential to end so much unnecessary suffering - are in any way misrepresented now that he has gone. They indeed were misrepresented whilst this brave and courteous man lived.
