Deakin University
Browse

Why Tourette syndrome research needs philosophical phenomenology

Version 2 2024-06-03, 22:22
Version 1 2020-07-14, 09:35
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-03, 22:22 authored by L Curtis-Wendlandt, Jack ReynoldsJack Reynolds
Despite a recent surge in publications on Tourette Syndrome (TS), we still lack substantial insight into first-personal aspects of “what it is like” to live with this condition. This is despite the fact that developments in phenomenological psychiatry have demonstrated the scientific and clinical importance of understanding subjective experience in a range of other neuropsychiatric conditions. We argue that it is time for Tourette Syndrome research to tap into the sophisticated frameworks developed in the philosophical tradition of phenomenology (qualitative research into the formal structures or the “how” of lived experience) for describing experience in a way that integrates discrete symptoms into an overarching experiential framework concerning the self, the body, and its modes of experience. Following a historical introduction that contextualises the pertinence of phenomenology to psychopathology, we distinguish this approach from the existing, psychologically oriented studies on TS that are also qualitative. We then outline gaps and opportunities for future research, including the sorts of questions that might be utilised in phenomenological interviews and why they are of potential benefit to research programs in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience. In conclusion we address some of the broader implications for phenomenology of the body and philosophy of action.

History

Journal

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences

Volume

20

Pagination

573-600

Location

Dordrecht, The Netherlands

ISSN

1568-7759

eISSN

1572-8676

Language

English

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Issue

4

Publisher

SPRINGER