Academic Psychiatry 17: 59-66,
June
1993
© 1993 Academic Psychiatry
The Mind-Brain Problem, Epistemology, and Psychiatric Education
Phillip R. Slavney M.D.1
1 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Academic Psychiatry
The mind-brain problem is the fundamental mystery in psychiatry and the chief obstacle to a coherent curriculum for its students. Rather than acknowledge the problem as a source of ambiguity and discord, some educators have attempted to abolish, finesse, or ignore it. An alternative to these tactics is found in the epistemological approach taken by Karl Jaspers and others, which seeks to determine what we know and how we know it. Educational programs based on such an approach seem more likely than others to produce students who are broad-minded, tough-minded, and fair-minded.
Note:
The author thanks Mitchell Cohen, Peter Rabins, and Jacqueline Slavney for their suggestions.
