About the Philosophy SIG
The Philosophy SIG was set up to develop
dialogue between philosophers and psychiatrists in the belief that
such dialogue would be mutually rewarding, both in conceptual and
clinical terms. The group has now been running for over 15 years
and has over 1,200 members, many of whom are philosophers. The
group also includes people from related disciplines, such as
physicians and psychologists.
One of the main ways in which we have been
able to encourage conceptual thought within psychiatry on a number
of issues has been to organize or support meetings and conferences.
There have been a number of tremendously successful national
conferences over the years and we have also encouraged joint
meetings with other SIGs. A highly successful meeting in
Newcastle in 2002 lead to the publication of a book entitled
Dementia: Mind Meaning and the Person (for details see OUP
series below).
Network
Over the years the Philosophy SIG has
supported meeting with the Philadelphia Association and, in
2007, the two groups have conjointly organised the
4th RD Laing Conference. In recent years the Philosophy
SIG has also put on workshops or symposia in the Annual College
Meeting.
Members of the SIG of the Royal College of
Psychiatrists have been instrumental in building up the
International Network for Philosophy
and Psychiatry (INPP). The INPP website hosts a
Resource Base of references, précis, and links to relevant
publications in the interdisciplinary field. There are now links
with similar groups in over 20 countries. The INPP has pursued a
series of international conferences every few years, most recently
in October 2008 at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Centre, entitled
'Psychiatry and Freedom'.
In conjunction with the development of our
international connections with other groups, and in particular in
connection with our American counterpart, the Association for the
Advancement of Philosophy and Psychiatry, a new journal called
Philosophy Psychology and Psychiatry (PPP) was
launched in 1993 and continues to be published by Johns Hopkins
University Press. The journal has an international editorial board
and publishes peer review papers by both philosophers and
psychiatrists, psychologists, sociologists and others.
Following the success of PPP, Oxford
University Press has brought out a series entitled
International
Perspectives on Philosophy and Psychiatry. Professor Bill
Fulford, one of the founding members of the Philosophy SIG is joint
editor of the series (he was also a joint founding editor of PPP).
This series now has a large number of volumes relevant to the
philosophy and practice of psychiatry.
Local groups
The Philosophy SIG continues to focus on a
central aim, which is to encourage philosophical thought and
conceptual analysis amongst psychiatrists. To this end, we are
delighted that the new curriculum for the membership examination
includes a specific focus on philosophy and ethics. The Philosophy
SIG continues to encourage educational activities within the
College both through workshops at the Annual Meeting and also
through other CPD activities, which include the running of local
groups.
Local groups always depend on the enthusiasm
of individuals and, as such, such groups have come and gone. The
Scottish Section of the Philosophy SIG has, however, continued to
foster meetings on a regular basis. There has been a strong group
formed in London centred on the Maudsley and, in recent years the
HUMAN Group in Nottingham has been encouraging interdisciplinary
meetings.
Other groups have existed in the past in both
Sheffield and Oxford and the Philosophy SIG would always be pleased
to hear of local groups and to advertise their meetings. For
instance, there have been a series of meetings run by the
University of Birmingham which have brought together both
philosophers and psychiatrists (details have appeared in our recent
Newsletters, which have been an important way in which the
Philosophy SIG has communicated with its membership).
Research is also an important part of the
dialogue between philosophers and psychiatrists. The Philosophy SIG
has links with research programmes at Warwick, Oxford and London.
Masters and doctoral programmes have been available from a number
of universities in recent years in relation to philosophy and
psychiatry. In particular Warwick
University has led the way. A more recent development has been the
formation of the Institute of Philosophy, Diversity and Mental
Health at the University of
Central Lancashire with a new distance learning masters
programme based on the Oxford Textbook of Philosophy and
Psychiatry.
Development
One of the functions of the Philosophy SIG is
to examine the ways in which philosophy can be brought to bear on
practice and also seen to emerge from the context of
practice. A main contention of those interested in the
Philosophy of Psychiatry is that conceptual problems lie at the
heart of clinical practice. It is for this reason that we are
excited that the work of the Philosophy SIG continues to burgeon
and broaden.
In the last few years we have seen philosophy
of psychiatry having an impact on initiatives within the Department
of Health through, for instance, the notion of values based
practice. For instance, we can now point to documents from the
National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) and the
National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) that
make reference to values based practice, a concept that has emerged
directly from work in the philosophy of psychiatry.
The development of the Philosophy SIG over the
last 15 years has been exciting and stimulating for all those
involved and there is no reason to believe that this excitement and
stimulation is set to do anything other than to continue in the
future.
List of
Executive
| Member |
Year of joining |
Position |
|
Dr Matthew Broome
|
2008
(E)
|
Chair
|
|
Prof. Kenneth Fulford
|
2003
(C)
|
Honorary Secretary
|
|
Dr David Foreman
|
2008
(E)
|
Financial Officer
|
|
Dr Subodh Dave
|
2008
(C)
|
Vice Chair
|
|
Dr Michael Yousif
|
2007
(C)
|
Web Page Advisor
|
Membership is open to all Members of or Associates of the
College. Others may apply and be invited to join at the discretion
of the Chair.
To join, please complete our online
application form or email the College Membership
Section.