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  • HempelAAM

    Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 70, 2018 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsc..2018.05.008

    Accepted author manuscript, 1.12 MB, PDF document

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The Myth of Hempel and the DSM-III

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>08/2018
<mark>Journal</mark>Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Volume70
Number of pages10
Pages (from-to)10-19
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date30/06/18
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

In 1959, the philosopher Carl Hempel presented a paper on psychiatric taxonomy at a conference of the American Psychopathological Association. In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association published DSM-III, the third edition of their hugely influential classification of mental disorders. The DSM-III sought to adopt an ‘atheoretical’ approach to classification, and introduced explicit diagnostic criteria setting out the number and combinations of symptoms required for diagnosis. Commentators now often claim that Hempel's paper was an important contributor to the DSM-III approach. This paper argues that this claim is mistaken and that the idea that Hempel influenced the DSM-III is a myth. This matters because the idea that Hempel influenced the DSM-III has played a key rhetorical role in discussions about the potential relevance and importance of the philosophy of psychiatry.

Bibliographic note

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 70, 2018 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsc..2018.05.008