Delusions in schizophrenia as an interdisciplinary phenomena for the philosophy of mind

Abstract

Delusions are a transdiagnostic phenomenon with higher prevalence in schizophrenia. Historically, delusions have been regarded as the hallmark of psychosis. Over the last 20 years, delusions have attracted the attention of philosophers, psychiatrists, and cognitive sciences due to the ways in which they challenge some of the most fundamental claims about the nature of the human mind. However, despite its clinical relevance for the diagnosis of a number of conditions, the study of delusions still leads to a number of conceptual and empirical disagreements. This article clarifies some of the most fundamental problems raised by the observation of delusions in schizophrenia from an interdisciplinary point of view. Our analysis is meant to inform experimental approaches to the phenomenon, and, in turn, advance its treatment. In this sense, conceptual progress in this field is fundamental to map different paths for empirical and clinical research. This, due to the fact that any theory aiming at explaining delusions in schizophrenia should offer some kind of answer to the problems that we clarify in this paper