Psychiatry and Human Nature

Psychiatry is medicine's most multi-disciplinary specialty and arguably its most intellectually and emotionally demanding. It has long attracted dual interpretations from cool, detached perspectives valuing objectivity (classic) to hotter, embodied and more political perspectives valuing subjectivity (romantic). This book argues that psychiatry should become more aware of classic and romantic threads that run through it. Chapters approach core topics in psychiatry and throughout the book both research and case material are used to animate the concepts. The book relates psychiatry to questions in philosophical anthropology and ethics. It presents human nature, mental disorder, and human freedom as inherently inter-related. This is a book of broad appeal to anyone interested in psychiatry and why this branch of medicine has ethical, legal and political significance.

• Addressing a topic of major intellectual interest, this book provides a richer view of psychiatry using both classic and romantic perspectives
• Provides examples of interdisciplinary working between medical science and humanities
• Introduces a novel thesis step-by-step using ordinary-language explanations, case studies and visual illustrations throughout, allowing easy comprehension for readers from a broad range of disciplines