Citation

Tully I. Ratio 2019; 32(2): 114-121.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/rati.12224

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

How to draw the line between depression-as-disorder and non-pathological depressive symptoms continues to be a contested issue in psychiatry. Relatively few philosophers have waded into this debate, but the tools of philosophical analysis are quite relevant to it. In this paper, I defend a particular answer to this question, the Contextual approach. On this view, depression is a disorder if and only if it is a disproportionate response to a justifying cause or else is unconnected to any justifying cause. I present four objections to this approach and then defend it from them. Along the way, I explain why it matters whether we get this question right.

Language: en

Keywords

depression; fittingness; mental illness; psychiatry; sadness