Programme

In this course, we aim to explore whether contemporary brain and mind sciences can provide concepts, theories, and data useful for bridging the various descriptive and explanatory levels that psychiatry—due to its multifaceted nature—must draw upon when investigating mental disorders. In particular, we will ask whether these sciences allow us to move beyond the traditional dichotomy between biological and psychological conceptions of psychiatric inquiry.

STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAMME (6 ECTS, 36 hours)
The programme is organised into six thematic units of approximately six hours each. The readings indicated below are the English-language texts adopted for international and Erasmus students:
1. The composite nature of psychiatry. The meeting point of medicine, psychology and the social sciences; the descriptive and explanatory levels of psychiatric inquiry and the problem of bridging them; the medical model and its minimal interpretation. Readings: Murphy 2025, §§1-2.1; Tsou 2021, §1.
2. The biological conception and its critics. The strong interpretation of the medical model; skepticism about biological psychiatry, from anti-psychiatry to contemporary social constructionism, and the limits of the reductionist programme. Readings: Tsou 2021, §2; Murphy 2025, §2.3.
3. What a mental disorder is and how it is classified. Naturalism, normativism and hybrid accounts; harmful dysfunction and biological kinds; natural kinds, projectability and looping effects; the DSM conception of mental illness and the pursuit of diagnostic validity. Readings: Tsou 2021, §§3-5; Murphy 2025, §2.2.
4. Models of explanation of mental disorder. Levels of explanation; from histories to causes; causal explanatory strategies; disorders as statistical networks; cross-cultural issues. Readings: Murphy 2025, §§3.1-3.5 and §4.3.
5. Clinical cognitive neuroscience as a bridging programme. The clinical application of explanatory models and the interplay between psychopathology and the philosophy of mind. Readings: Murphy 2025, §3.6 and the Supplement on Philosophical Psychopathology; Tsou 2021, §4.
6. Alternatives to the medical model, case studies and conclusions. 4E and externalist philosophy of psychiatry; a concluding assessment of the opposition between biological and psychological conceptions of psychiatric inquiry. Readings: Murphy 2025, §4; Tsou 2021, §6.

READINGS
- J.Y. Tsou, Philosophy of Psychiatry, Cambridge University Press (Elements in the Philosophy of Science), Cambridge 2021.
- D. Murphy, "Philosophy of Psychiatry", in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2025 Edition), E.N. Zalta and U. Nodelman (eds.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2025/entries/psychiatry/

PREREQUISITES
There are no propaedeutic courses and no specialist prior knowledge of psychiatry, psychopathology or neuroscience, nor any clinical training, is required. Students are expected to be familiar with the basic notions of psychology and the cognitive sciences and with the general outline of epistemology and philosophy of science acquired during the Bachelor's degree.

Core Documentation

Adopted texts (for the whole programme):
- J.Y. Tsou, Philosophy of Psychiatry, Cambridge University Press (Elements in the Philosophy of Science), Cambridge 2021.
- D. Murphy, "Philosophy of Psychiatry", in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2025 Edition), E.N. Zalta and U. Nodelman (eds.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2025/entries/psychiatry/

Distribution of the English-language texts across the thematic units: unit 1, Murphy 2025, §§1-2.1 and Tsou 2021, §1; unit 2, Tsou 2021, §2 and Murphy 2025, §2.3; unit 3, Tsou 2021, §§3-5 and Murphy 2025, §2.2; unit 4, Murphy 2025, §§3.1-3.5 and §4.3; unit 5, Murphy 2025, §3.6 and the Supplement on Philosophical Psychopathology, and Tsou 2021, §4; unit 6, Murphy 2025, §4 and Tsou 2021, §6.

The programme and the adopted texts are the same for attending and non-attending students. No substitute or additional texts are envisaged for non-attending students.

Teaching materials: lecture slides, the texts used in the guided discussions and reading guidance are made available on the University's online learning platform, accessible with institutional credentials.

Reference Bibliography

Further bibliographical suggestions for in-depth study are provided during the course and published, together with the teaching materials, on the University's online learning platform. The adopted texts listed above are sufficient for the preparation of the examination.

Attendance

Attendance is not compulsory, but it is strongly recommended: the course benefits in particular from classroom discussion and from the guided analysis of texts and psychopathological cases. No attendance records are kept and no minimum attendance threshold is required for admission to the examination. The examination programme, the adopted texts and the assessment methods are the same for attending and non-attending students. Non-attending students are encouraged to contact the lecturer at the beginning of the course, during office hours or by email, in order to agree on a guided study path; they also have access to the teaching materials made available on the University's online learning platform.

Type of evaluation

Learning is assessed through a single final written examination consisting of an open-answer questionnaire. There are no intermediate tests and no selective tests: the outcome of the written examination determines the final mark in full. The examination lasts 120 minutes and comprises four open questions covering the whole programme (one on units 1-2, one on unit 3, one on units 4-5, one on unit 6). Each question requires a reasoned answer of approximately one to two pages. The examination is designed to assess: (a) knowledge of the course contents; (b) effective understanding of the concepts and the ability to apply them to the analysis of psychopathological cases; (c) the ability to distinguish and relate the different descriptive and explanatory levels of psychiatric inquiry; (d) the ability to analyse an epistemological problem critically and to argue in support of a thesis; (e) the use of vocabulary appropriate to the discipline. CRITERIA FOR GRADING The final mark, expressed out of thirty, is determined by taking into account the level and quality of knowledge of the topics, the ability to analyse a theme critically, the logic of the arguments put forward in support of a thesis, the ability to apply theories and concepts to contexts, and the use of vocabulary appropriate to the discipline. Specifically: - 18-21: essential knowledge of the contents; mainly descriptive presentation; still approximate disciplinary vocabulary; limited critical ability. - 22-24: adequate knowledge of the contents; correct but not fully articulated reconstruction of the relations between the explanatory levels; broadly appropriate vocabulary. - 25-27: good knowledge of the contents; correct and articulated reconstruction of the connections between biological models, psychological models and the cognitive sciences; coherent argumentation; appropriate vocabulary. - 28-30: broad and confident knowledge; autonomous critical analysis; ability to apply the theoretical framework to psychopathological cases; rigorous argumentation; full command of the disciplinary vocabulary. - 30 cum laude: excellent command of the contents, combined with personal elaboration, the ability to connect epistemological problems and results of the sciences of mind and brain autonomously, and originality in framing the answers. Students with disabilities and with specific learning disorders (SLD/DSA) may request the support measures to be granted during the examination through the dedicated University portal, available at the following link: https://www.uniroma3.it/roma-tre-inclusiva-studenti-con-disabilita-e-con-dsa/