Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a philosophical analysis of the field of psychopharmacology. ;First, a formal definition of the discipline is derived from opinions expressed by psychopharmacologists. Psychopharmacology is the scientific study of the effect of drugs, to the extent it can be known by science, on mind and behavior of the organism. Brief descriptions are also given of the subdisciplines of psychopharmacology, and different views on psychopharmacology are surveyed. ;Second, the aim of psychopharmacology is considered. Psychopharmacology is a practical science, like experimental medicine, to which it belongs because of its affiliation to psychiatry, and its aim is to gain, through the scientific study of drug effects, a better understanding of the neurophysiological bases of human mind and behavior, normal and abnormal, with a more or less distant view on therapeutic action, especially with regard to the problems posed by mental illness and substance abuse. The priority of a therapeutic aim over a strictly epistemic aim is also discussed. ;Third, the discipline is assessed along the lines of therapy in man. The tendency in the discipline to focus strictly on the neurophysiological bases of mind and the related tendencies to consider behavior without reference to its mental underpinnings and to rely to a great extent on animal research give a picture of man in terms of natural science which leaves out his mind with important consequences for therapy. Moreover, attitudes underlying research in the discipline and psychology in general contribute to exacerbating this disregard of human mind. In brief, a psychopharmacological approach can perhaps "cure" disordered molecules and disordered behaviors, but fails to reach the mind of man, mostly at the characteristic level of reason, and should correctly be seen as a useful--albeit necessary, but in itself insufficient--adjuvant in a broader psychotherapeutic approach. ;Finally, the tendency to draw conclusions about human nature exclusively on the basis of unqualified psychopharmacological knowledge is attributed to a defective outlook in psychology, and the importance of a more balanced view in which to integrate research findings is stressed