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SUMMARY:Illness and Attitude: Characterizing Functional Disorders - Profes
 sor Richard Holton\, Department of Philosophy\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20190207T123000Z
DTEND:20190207T133000Z
UID:TALK116176@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Muzaffer Kaser
DESCRIPTION:Many illnesses have been thought—controversially—to have a
  psychosomatic component. How should we understand this? Sometimes a contr
 ast is made between organic illness and mental illness: psychosomatic illn
 esses are the latter masquerading as the former. But if the mental is phys
 ical\, and hence organic\, this will not help. An alternative approach dis
 tinguishes between symptoms that are influenced by the patient's attitudes
 \, and those that are not\; psychosomatic illnesses are marked by the form
 er. Does this make the class too wide? Suppose I aggravate a bad back by r
 efusing to exercise\, falsely expecting the exercise to be dangerous. My s
 ymptoms are influenced by my attitude: are they therefore psychosomatic? I
  suggest that there is no sharp cut-off. I examine the role of attitudes i
 n various illnesses\, including addiction\, focusing on the ways that soci
 al factors affect the relevant attitudes. I ask whether recognition of a c
 ontinuum might help lessen the stigma that psychosomatic illness has tende
 d to attract\, and suggest other ways that treatment might be more attuned
  to these issues.
LOCATION:Seminar Room\, Herchel Smith Building\, Forvie Site.
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