Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology

Abstract:

How might we better understand intersubjectivity with respect to schizophrenia? This article seeks to build two bridges with current discussions on this question within the field of phenomenological psychopathology. The first bridge comes from an ethnographic engagement with schizophrenia, primarily in the context of India. Rather than assuming cultural difference as the predictable wall between “Western” philosophy and “non-Western” experience, the border crossing attempted here depends on a second bridge, through Stanley Cavell’s interpretation of skepticism not as a problem of knowledge but of relatedness to oneself and others. Through ethnographic and literary instances centered on the experiences of patients and caregivers, I place three signature concepts from Cavell’s writings on skepticism in relation to the study of schizophrenia: attunement, tempo, and the negation of voice.