Clinical Practice beyond Science: Debunking the Scientific Myth

Abstract

The theme of the RANZCP 28th Conference questioned the science of clinical practice. This question is explored in the light of prevailing paradigms of 20th century psychiatry and recent claims by scientism, especially biologism, that assumes an organic causation for all abnormal behaviour. It is argued that a paradigm of objective science is necessary to understanding many aspects of mental illness, but not sufficient to explain certain essential phenomena, such as altered states of consciousness and empathy, encounted daily in clinical practice. Discarding these phenomena in the name of “science” runs the risk of clinical practice becoming “mindless”. The “reconquest of the subjective” is offered as a way to extend clinical practice beyond objective science.