Dr Awais Aftab - A Song of Facts and Values: The Concept of Mental Disorder

Dr Awais Aftab examines how facts and value judgments shape the concept of mental disorder in clinical practice.

This talk focuses on the interplay of facts and value judgement, formalized in the philosophical positions of 'naturalism' and 'normativism'. We will examine how facts and judgments play a role in the ascription of psychopathology, and how normative considerations shape concepts of disorder in clinical practice. Dr Aftab is Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, and staff psychiatrist at Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. He is a member of the executive council of Association for the Advancement of Philosophy and Psychiatry and has been actively involved in initiatives to educate psychiatrists and trainees on the intersection of philosophy and psychiatry. He leads the interview series "Conversations in Critical Psychiatry" for Psychiatric Times that explores critical and philosophical perspectives in psychiatry and engages with prominent commentators within and outside the profession who have made meaningful criticisms of the status quo. Presented by Dr Awais Aftab for the West of Scotland Speculative Psychiatry Group on 25/2/21 Many thanks to Dr Awais for his time and wisdom.