Classification and dialogue:

A review essay on Kohji Ishihara’s Philosophy of Mental Disorder

Abstract

    This is a review essay on Kohji Ishihara's Philosophy of Mental Disorder: From Classification to Dialogue. The book is a collection of Ishihara's recent works. Part Ⅰ of the book discusses the history of psychiatry that originally excluded those with mental disorders from the dialogue on psychiatry. Part Ⅱ describes the ever-changing nature of the classification of mental disorders. In Part Ⅲ, he presents what he calls the “dialogical approach” to mental disorders as a promising alternative way of doing psychiatry. The structure and subtitle of the book convey the message that the practice of classifying mental disorders will be superseded by the dialogue with those with mental disorders in the future. Contrary to this message, based on the notion of epistemic injustice proposed by Fricker, I argue that the classification of mental disorders has both merits and demerits for those whose disorders are thus classified, and that the classification of mental disorders will continue to assume the role of the starting point of such dialogue in the future.