Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Phenomenon of Mental Disorder

Perspectives of Heidegger’s Thought in Psychopathology

  • Book
  • © 2015

Overview

Authors:
  1. Petr Kouba

    1. Philosophical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Provides a critical introduction to Heidegger’s impact on psychiatry and psychology
  • Confronts Heidegger's approach to mental disorder with the conceptions of Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari in a novel way
  • Presents a new view of Heidegger’s phenomenological description of human existence
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Contributions to Phenomenology (CTPH, volume 75)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Petr Kouba
    Pages 1-8

  3. Methodological Pitfalls

    • Petr Kouba
    Pages 9-57

  4. The Strategy of Sein und Zeit

    • Petr Kouba
    Pages 59-90

  5. The Problem of Mental Disorder

    • Petr Kouba
    Pages 91-127

  6. Mental Disorder and the Finitude of Being-There

    • Petr Kouba
    Pages 129-138

  7. Poetic Experience as a Point of Departure for a New Approach to Insanity

    • Petr Kouba
    Pages 139-168

  8. Psychopathological Consequences

    • Petr Kouba
    Pages 169-192

  9. Conclusion

    • Petr Kouba
    Pages 193-203

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 205-214
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book provides a critical introduction to Heidegger’s impact on psychiatry and psychology, and has a focus on the application of his philosophy to psychiatry. This is a complete revision of Heidegger’s existential philosophy in the light of psychopathological phenomena. Readers will find here a philosophical inquiry into the problem of mental disorder, which shows Heidegger’s own philosophy in a new light, uncovering both its strengths and its weak points. The author maps not only Heidegger’s interaction with psychiatric thought, as depicted in his Zollikon Seminars, but also his influence on Swiss phenomenological psychiatry. The work treats Heidegger in a critical way, taking the phenomenon of mental disorder as a touchstone on which Heidegger’s thought is tested. The results of such a critical examination are important, not only for a better understanding of psychopathological phenomena, but also for a new understanding of Heidegger’s approach to human existence. This work treats the phenomenon of mental disorder as a philosophical problem that reflects the ontological character of human existence. Heidegger’s approach to mental disorder is confronted with the conceptions of Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari in a novel way. The book is more than just an historical overview as it highlights the limits of phenomenological thought in the area of psychiatry and it shows a possible way of moving beyond them. This is a philosophical work with an interdisciplinary range. Scholars of philosophy and those in the growing field of philosophy of psychiatry, as well as those with an interest in Heidegger Studies will be particularly interested in this work.

Reviews

“This is an examination of the concept of mental illness through the lens of Heideggerian philosophy, with good attention to several philosophers who have raised objections to those views. … This is written at the level of the professional philosopher. … The book does very well at taking a broad look at the works of Heidegger. This is an excellent examination of the philosophy of psychiatry as found in the works of Martin Heidegger.” (Eric Gausche, Doody's Book Reviews, June, 2015)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Philosophical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Petr Kouba

About the author

Petr Kouba teaches in the Philosophy Faculty of Charles University, Prague and works at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He is the author of phenomenon of Mental Disorder (2006, 2011 in German) and co-editor of Dynamic Structure (2007), Medicine in the Context of the Western Thought (2008) and Franz Kafka: Minority Report.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Phenomenon of Mental Disorder

  • Book Subtitle: Perspectives of Heidegger’s Thought in Psychopathology

  • Authors: Petr Kouba

  • Series Title: Contributions to Phenomenology

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10323-5

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-10322-8Published: 01 December 2014

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-36237-3Published: 10 September 2016

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-10323-5Published: 18 November 2014

  • Series ISSN: 0923-9545

  • Series E-ISSN: 2215-1915

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 214

  • Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations

  • Additional Information: Original Czech edition published by OIKOYMENH, Prague, 2006

  • Topics: Phenomenology, Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation