Jennifer Radden – författare

In recent years there has been increased recognition of the global burden of mental disorders, which in turn has led to the expansion of preventive initiatives at the community and population levels. The application of such public health approaches to mental health raises a number of important ethical questions. The aim of this collection is to address these newly emerging issues, with special attention to the principle of prevention and the distinctive ethical challenges in mental health. The collection brings together an interdisciplinary group of experts in bioethics, mental health, public health, and global health.

Originally published in 1985, this book provides a philosophical analysis of the concepts of madness and moral responsibility. It challenges the view that because they are victims of mental illness, the insane should not be blamed for actions resulting from their condition. The author urges a return to the neglected equation between madness and a want of reason, arguing that the impulse to excuse the criminally insane must be grounded in an appeal to their irrationality and unreasonableness. Through meticulous examination of the psychological states and behaviour patterns of major mental abnormalities, such as schizophrenia and depression, the author develops a notion of exculpating unreason. This is an interdisciplinary book which encompasses analytical philosophy, abnormal psychology and law.

Originally published in 1985, this book provides a philosophical analysis of the concepts of madness and moral responsibility. It challenges the view that because they are victims of mental illness, the insane should not be blamed for actions resulting from their condition. The author urges a return to the neglected equation between madness and a want of reason, arguing that the impulse to excuse the criminally insane must be grounded in an appeal to their irrationality and unreasonableness. Through meticulous examination of the psychological states and behaviour patterns of major mental abnormalities, such as schizophrenia and depression, the author develops a notion of exculpating unreason. This is an interdisciplinary book which encompasses analytical philosophy, abnormal psychology and law.

Delusions play a fundamental role in the history of psychology, philosophy and culture, dividing not only the mad from the sane but reason from unreason. Yet the very nature and extent of delusions are poorly understood. What are delusions? How do they differ from everyday errors or mistaken beliefs? Are they scientific categories?

In this superb, panoramic investigation of delusion Jennifer Radden explores these questions and more, unravelling a fascinating story that ranges from Descartes’s demon to famous first-hand accounts of delusion, such as Daniel Schreber’s Memoirs of My Nervous Illness.

Radden places delusion in both a clinical and cultural context and explores a fascinating range of themes: delusions as both individually and collectively held, including the phenomenon of folies á deux; spiritual and religious delusions, in particular what distinguishes normal religious belief from delusions with religious themes; how we assess those suffering from delusion from a moral standpoint; and how we are to interpret violent actions when they are the result of delusional thinking. As well as more common delusions, such as those of grandeur, she also discusses some of the most interesting and perplexing forms of clinical delusion, such as Cotard and Capgras.