Problems of Living

Problems 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

1. Introduction
1.1 Perspectives of Philosophy
1.2 Perspectives of Psychiatry
1.3 The Big Questions

2. Brain-Minds: What is the Best Metaphor?
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

3. Reason and Passion
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

4. The Pleasures of Life
4.1 Philosophy and Happiness
4.2 Psychiatry and Happiness
4.3 Neurophilosophy and Neuropsychiatry
4.4 Sharpening Ideas on Happiness
4.5 Conclusion

5. Pain and Suffering
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

6. The Good and the Bad
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

7. How Can We Know What is True, Then?
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

8. The Meaning of Life
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

9. Conclusion: Metaphors of Life