Values, Disagreement, and Psychiatric Classification
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: It has been argued that non-epistemic values have legitimate roles to play in the classification of psychiatric disorders. Such a value-laden view on psychiatric classification raises questions about the extent to which expert disagreements over psychiatric classification are fueled by disagreements over value judgments and the extent to which these disagreements could be resolved. This paper addresses these questions by arguing for two theses. First, a major source of disagreements about psychiatric classification is factual and concerns what social consequences a classification decision will have. This type of disagreement can be addressed by empirical research, although obtaining and evaluating relevant empirical evidence often requires interdisciplinary collaboration. Second, there is also a type of disagreement over value judgments; namely, disagreements over which aims of psychiatric classification should be prioritized. To address this type of value disagreement, it is helpful to develop a plurality of different psychiatric classification systems, each targeted toward satisfying a different subset of stakeholder aims.
Source: Análisis Filosófico
DOI: 10.36446/af.e1126
Author: Yafeng Wang
Institutions: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy
Language: English
Topic: Mental Health and Psychiatry
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4408218830