Psychiatric classifications exist within theoretical approaches which take certain notions of mental illness for granted. This presentation will provide an overview of the historical development of psychiatric classifications with an emphasis on their conceptual presuppositions, and will examine how questions of classification have intersected with questions about the nature of mental illness in modern history.
History of psychiatric classification also reveals a tension between descriptive and hypothetical-conjectural approaches, which this lecture will explore. The talk will end with an appreciation of the ongoing controversies reflecting the difficulties inherent in defining and classifying mental illness, with some preliminary remarks on future directions.
