Mental life in the space of reasons

Publikation: Forskning - peer reviewTidsskriftartikel

Ekstern

    Vis graf over relationer

    This paper argues the Wittgensteinian point that we can undo the psychologizing of psychology by conceiving of mental life as lived in the space of reasons. It is argued that mental life - human action, feeling and thinking - is constituted by normative connections and necessities rather than causal ones. The consequence is that mental life is irreducibly moral, and if the sciences of mental life are to become adequate to deal with their subject matter, they should construe themselves as what was once referred to as moral sciences. It is argued that the source of the normativity of mental life is found in historically evolved social practices,although not all normativity is conventional or historically contingent. Finally, some objections to the idea that mental life is normative are discussed; first, that this idea represents an intellectualist or rationalist fallacy, and second that it violates our conception of mental illness as something mental, yet outside the space of reasons
    OriginalsprogEngelsk
    TidsskriftJournal for the Theory of Social Behaviour
    Udgivelsesdato2006
    Vol/bind36
    Tidsskriftsnummer1
    Sider1-16
    Antal sider16
    ISSN0021-8308
    StatusUdgivet

    ID: 16957283