Autonomy and Mental Health
LENT TERM 2010
SUBSTANCE-RELATED DISORDERS AND PERSONAL AUTONOMY
(Friday, 26 February 2010, 5.30 – 7.30pm, Faculty Board Room, Faculty of Philosophy)
DEPRESSION AND DYSTHYMIA AS POSSIBLE CHALLENGES TO AUTONOMY
(Friday, 12 March 2010, 5.30 – 7.30pm, Faculty Board Room, Faculty of Philosophy)
These workshops aim to identify and explore the ways, in which two prevalent types of mental disorders may compromise personal autonomy or, unexpectedly, strengthen some of its underpinnings. Three lines of thought will be pursued:
- The first involves a critical analysis of the theoretical presuppositions that lead to defining some instances of apparently paradoxical agency as psychiatric conditions;
- The second relates the current understanding of the mental disorders involved to fundamental philosophical problems, such as freedom of will and moral responsibility;
- The third revisits existing conceptions of personal autonomy in light of recent psychiatric and neuroscientific research, as well as first-person accounts of related conditions
If you would like to attend, please contact the organiser, Dr Lubomira Radoilska (lr271@cam.ac.uk). Workshop materials will be circulated at the start of each session.
These events follow up a two-year series of interdisciplinary research seminars on “Autonomy and Mental Health” and an international conference on this topic earlier this year. They will continue to provide a forum for constructive dialogue between academics and professionals whose work builds on these challenging concepts. Details about preceding events and related materials are available below.
Samuel Palmer, The Magic Apple Tree, 1830
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