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    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, 55, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.10.001

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To what do psychiatric diagnoses refer?: A two-dimensional semantic analysis of diagnostic terms

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

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To what do psychiatric diagnoses refer? A two-dimensional semantic analysis of diagnostic terms. / Maung, Hane.
In: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Vol. 55, 28.02.2016, p. 1-10.

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

Harvard

Maung, H 2016, 'To what do psychiatric diagnoses refer? A two-dimensional semantic analysis of diagnostic terms', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, vol. 55, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.10.001

APA

Maung, H. (2016). To what do psychiatric diagnoses refer? A two-dimensional semantic analysis of diagnostic terms. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 55, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.10.001

Vancouver

Maung H. To what do psychiatric diagnoses refer? A two-dimensional semantic analysis of diagnostic terms. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. 2016 Feb 28;55:1-10. Epub 2015 Nov 13. doi: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.10.001

Author

Maung, Hane. / To what do psychiatric diagnoses refer? A two-dimensional semantic analysis of diagnostic terms. In: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. 2016 ; Vol. 55. pp. 1-10.

Bibtex

@article{14c8e400c18a43faae79d7ba4c45ee48,
title = "To what do psychiatric diagnoses refer?: A two-dimensional semantic analysis of diagnostic terms",
abstract = "In somatic medicine, diagnostic terms often refer to the disease processes that are the causes of patients' symptoms. The language used in some clinical textbooks and health information resources suggests that this is also sometimes assumed to be the case with diagnoses in psychiatry. However, this seems to be in tension with the ways in which psychiatric diagnoses are defined in diagnostic manuals, according to which they refer solely to clusters of symptoms. This paper explores how theories of reference in the philosophy of language can help to resolve this tension. After the evaluation of descriptive and causal theories of reference, I put forward a conceptual framework based on two-dimensional semantics that allows the causal analysis of diagnostic terms in psychiatry, while taking seriously their descriptive definitions in diagnostic manuals. While the framework is presented as a solution to a problem regarding the semantics of psychiatric diagnoses, it can also accommodate the analysis of diagnostic terms in other medical disciplines.",
keywords = "diagnosis, medicine, psychiatry, causal theory of reference, two-dimensional semantics",
author = "Hane Maung",
note = "This is the author{\textquoteright}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, 55, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.10.001",
year = "2016",
month = feb,
day = "28",
doi = "10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.10.001",
language = "English",
volume = "55",
pages = "1--10",
journal = "Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences",
issn = "1369-8486",
publisher = "Elsevier Limited",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - To what do psychiatric diagnoses refer?

T2 - A two-dimensional semantic analysis of diagnostic terms

AU - Maung, Hane

N1 - 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, 55, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.10.001

PY - 2016/2/28

Y1 - 2016/2/28

N2 - In somatic medicine, diagnostic terms often refer to the disease processes that are the causes of patients' symptoms. The language used in some clinical textbooks and health information resources suggests that this is also sometimes assumed to be the case with diagnoses in psychiatry. However, this seems to be in tension with the ways in which psychiatric diagnoses are defined in diagnostic manuals, according to which they refer solely to clusters of symptoms. This paper explores how theories of reference in the philosophy of language can help to resolve this tension. After the evaluation of descriptive and causal theories of reference, I put forward a conceptual framework based on two-dimensional semantics that allows the causal analysis of diagnostic terms in psychiatry, while taking seriously their descriptive definitions in diagnostic manuals. While the framework is presented as a solution to a problem regarding the semantics of psychiatric diagnoses, it can also accommodate the analysis of diagnostic terms in other medical disciplines.

AB - In somatic medicine, diagnostic terms often refer to the disease processes that are the causes of patients' symptoms. The language used in some clinical textbooks and health information resources suggests that this is also sometimes assumed to be the case with diagnoses in psychiatry. However, this seems to be in tension with the ways in which psychiatric diagnoses are defined in diagnostic manuals, according to which they refer solely to clusters of symptoms. This paper explores how theories of reference in the philosophy of language can help to resolve this tension. After the evaluation of descriptive and causal theories of reference, I put forward a conceptual framework based on two-dimensional semantics that allows the causal analysis of diagnostic terms in psychiatry, while taking seriously their descriptive definitions in diagnostic manuals. While the framework is presented as a solution to a problem regarding the semantics of psychiatric diagnoses, it can also accommodate the analysis of diagnostic terms in other medical disciplines.

KW - diagnosis

KW - medicine

KW - psychiatry

KW - causal theory of reference

KW - two-dimensional semantics

U2 - 10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.10.001

DO - 10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.10.001

M3 - Journal article

VL - 55

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

JF - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

SN - 1369-8486

ER -