El jueves, 3 de abril, a las 11h, tendrá lugar una nueva sesión del seminario TeC-FiloLab, en esta ocasión en formato online. Nuestra invitada será Sofia Jeppsson. A continuación tenéis un resumen de la charla, así como una breve nota sobre la trayectoria de Sofia.
«Demarcation, explanation, and romanticization – philosophical problems in young people’s mental health»
Abstract: The basis for this talk is a grant application I’m working on, funding related to young people’s mental health.
In popular discussions about young people’s mental health, as well as academic papers, the following three issues come up again and again:
– Demarcation. Are young people today too prone to regard problems they face as psychiatric? Are they too prone to self-diagnose with neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism or ADHD?
– Explanation. People often say that when receiving a diagnosis, they finally got an explanation for their problems. But what kind of explanation? Most philosophers agree that psychiatric diagnoses don’t provide causal explanations, but there are other types.
– Romanticization. Many writers, popular as well as academic, express concern about young people romanticizing psychiatric conditions, in particular on social media. But what does it mean to romanticize your condition? Does it have to be a bad thing, and if so, why is it bad?
Given the basis of the talk – grant application, not a paper I work on – it will present more questions than answers. Nevertheless, there are some ideas that can be dismissed at this stage already.
Bio: I am an associate professor of philosophy with a focus on practical philosophy. I defended my thesis, Practical Perspective Compatibilism, in 2012. In that monograph I developed a Kant inspired form of compatibilism. I have since published papers focusing on psychological, ethical as well as more metaphysical aspects of free will and moral responsibility, and papers on animal welfare and criminal justice ethics. During the last few years, I have focused on philosophical issues related to madness and psychiatry. I have held positions at the universities of Stockholm and Gothenburg before settling here in Umeå.