title: The nature of delusion: psychologically explicable? psychologically inexplicable? philosophically explicable? Part 1.
abstract: The debate about the nature of delusion has rumbled on for over a century without resolution. The current situation is a stand-off between psychologists, who propose various theories as to the psychological explicability of delusion, and psychiatrists, who generally regard delusion as inexplicable. Our main aim in this 2-part article is to reprise the intellectual atmosphere of German psychopathology in the inter-war and immediate post-war years, when the issues concerning delusion were formulated with more sensitivity to the actual delusions encountered in clinical practice. In Part 1 we mount a critique of psychological and psychiatric theories of delusion.
authors.affiliation: Honorary Senior Lecturer, Institute of Psychiatry, London jccutting@outlook.com.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cutting
authors.affiliation: Anton Proksch Institut, Vienna.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Musalek
mesh_terms: D003702:Delusions / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011599:Psychopathology / Q000266:history*
keywords: 20th century; Delusion; Max Scheler; depression; schizophrenia