The Doctrine of Integration in Psychiatry and the Pre-Socratics

Abstract

Objective: The notion of the integration of the mental and the physical, and of a number of other divisions, is widely promoted in psychiatry. René Descartes is often held responsible for divisions that appear in our profession and in our practice. The wish for integration, though, fails to recognize the way in which such divisions might be fundamental and necessary in our profession. This paper describes the endeavour in psychiatry and in Western thought more generally to cover up such divisions. It traces the drive towards integration to the origins of contemporary thought in Plato and Aristotle, in order to examine what preceded such thought. Conclusions: The pre-Socratic thinkers were able to articulate fundamental and radical divisions, an ability which has been lost since the writings of Plato and Aristotle. A reappraisal of the pre-Socratics can lead to a reconsideration of the ongoing attempt to cover over the necessary divisions which mark our clinical practice, in order to be able to value what is most fundamental in our profession.