
Problems of Living
Perspectives from Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Cognitive-Affective Science
- 1st Edition - May 11, 2021
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Author: Dan J. Stein
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 0 2 3 9 - 7
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 0 4 3 9 - 1
Problems of Living: Perspectives from Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Cognitive-Affective Science addresses philosophical questions related to problems of living, including questi… Read more

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Request a sales quoteProblems of Living: Perspectives from Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Cognitive-Affective Science addresses philosophical questions related to problems of living, including questions about the nature of the brain-mind, reason and emotion, happiness and suffering, goodness and truth, and the meaning of life. It draws on critical, pragmatic, and embodied realism as well as moral naturalism, and brings arguments from metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics together with data from cognitive-affective science. This multidisciplinary integrated approach provides a novel framework for considering not only the nature of mental disorders, but also broader issues in mental health, such as finding pleasure and purpose in life.
- Draws on the strongest aspects of polar positions in philosophy and psychiatry to help resolve important perennial debates in these fields
- Explores continuities between early philosophical work and current cognitive-affective sciences, including neuroscience and psychology
- Employs findings from modern cognitive-affective science to rethink key long-standing debates in philosophy and psychiatry
- Builds on work showing how mind is embodied in the brain, and embedded in society, to provide an integrated conceptual framework
- Assesses both the insights and the limitations of cognitive-affective science for addressing the big questions and hard problems of living
Mental health clinicians, philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, general academic readers
- Cover image
- Title page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Excerpt from “The Labyrinth”
- Preface
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Abstract
- 1.1: Perspectives of philosophy
- 1.2: Perspectives of psychiatry
- 1.3: The big questions and hard problems
- Chapter 2: Brain–minds: What’s the best metaphor?
- Abstract
- 2.1: The mind–body problem in philosophy
- 2.2: The mind–body problem in psychology
- 2.3: Two key mind–body metaphors
- 2.4: Brain–mind as wetware
- 2.5: Conclusion
- Chapter 3: Reason and passion
- Abstract
- 3.1: Philosophy of reason and passion
- 3.2: Psychiatry of reason and passion
- 3.3: Neurophilosophy and neuropsychiatry
- 3.4: Schemas and cognitive-affective processing
- 3.5: Conclusion
- Chapter 4: The pleasures of life
- Abstract
- 4.1: Philosophy and happiness
- 4.2: Psychiatry and happiness
- 4.3: Neurophilosophy and neuropsychiatry
- 4.4: Sharpening ideas on happiness
- 4.5: Conclusion
- Chapter 5: Pain and suffering
- Abstract
- 5.1: Philosophy and pain/suffering
- 5.2: Psychiatry and pain/suffering
- 5.3: Neurophilosophy and neuropsychiatry
- 5.4: Sharpening our views of suffering
- 5.5: Conclusion
- Chapter 6: The good and the bad
- Abstract
- 6.1: Philosophy and morality
- 6.2: Psychiatry and morality
- 6.3: Neurophilosophy and neuropsychiatry
- 6.4: Sharpening our thinking about morality
- 6.5: Conclusion
- Chapter 7: How can we know what is true, then?
- Abstract
- 7.1: Philosophy and the truth
- 7.2: Psychiatry and truth
- 7.3: Neurophilosophy and neuropsychiatry
- 7.4: Sharpening our thinking about scientific progress
- 7.5: Conclusion
- Chapter 8: The meaning of life
- Abstract
- 8.1: Philosophy and the meaning of life
- 8.2: Psychiatry and meaning in life
- 8.3: Neurophilosophy and neuropsychiatry
- 8.4: Sharpening our view of the meaning of life
- 8.5: Conclusion
- Chapter 9: Conclusion: Metaphors of life
- Abstract
- References
- Index
- Edition: 1
- Published: May 11, 2021
- Imprint: Academic Press
- No. of pages: 326
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN: 9780323902397
- eBook ISBN: 9780323904391
DS
Dan J. Stein
Dan J. Stein is Professor and Chair of the Dept of Psychiatry at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, and Director of the South African Medical Research Council’s Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders. Dan’s training includes doctoral degrees in clinical neuroscience and in philosophy, and a post-doctoral fellowship in psychopharmacology. He is a clinician-scientist whose work has long focused on anxiety and related disorders. He has also mentored a range of other research, with publications spanning basic neuroscience, through clinical research, and on to public mental health. His research has had considerable influence (as evidenced by his h-index, perhaps the highest of any African scholar), as has his mentorship (as evidenced by the career success of his postgraduate students and fellows). Awards for his work include the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s Max Hamilton Award for his contributions to psychopharmacology, and its Ethics in Psychopharmacology Award.
Affiliations and expertise
Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South AfricaRead Problems of Living on ScienceDirect