Mini Socrates asks questions about delusions

Is it normal to be delusional? @emas-b.bsky.social launches our 2026 series of Philosophy workshops at @winterbournehouse.bsky.social this February! Ticket is free and includes access to the Garden. Thanks @triphilosophy.bsky.social for supporting this initiative #philsky #philosophyforeveryone

Resisting Perceptions of Patient Untrustworthiness A beneficial therapeutic relationship between a patient and their clinician requires mutual trust. In order to effectively treat someone, a clinician has to trust the patient’s reports of their symptoms, relevant experiences, medical history, and so on. Many...

Very happy day! Ellie Palafox-Harris passed her viva with no corrections! She wrote a great thesis on #epistemicinjustice and delusions #philsky Proud supervisors @emas-b.bsky.social and I are delighted 😀 Here is an open access paper by Ellie: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

My copy of The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Delusion by @emas-b.bsky.social with chapters by @rritunnano.bsky.social @lisabortolotti.bsky.social @philcorlett.bsky.social @psychunseen.bsky.social (me) & others has arrived!

30 years ago I loved reading books like this; now I helped write one!

We agree! In the paper we argue that neither conspiracy beliefs nor monothematic delusions are appropriately characterised as pathologies of belief.

Thank you Lisa. Any love for the cover to be shared with you since you helped me choose it!

I’d like to think so! Upper level undergraduate/graduate course perhaps, as a guide to further reading (I think and hope I’ve been reasonably comprehensive in capturing the various debates surveyed).

Carolina, this is extremely generous coming from someone whose own work exemplifies those properties! Thank you!

Many thanks to @keithfrankish.bsky.social for the invitation and support, and to those in the intersection of 'gave me very helpful comments' and 'on bluesky': @kmurphyhollies.bsky.social, @jtsuth.bsky.social, and @samljwilkinson.bsky.social.

Irrationality Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - Irrationality

My Cambridge Element on Irrationality is out, and open access for a month! In it I discuss akrasia, conspiracy beliefs, self-deception, delusion, and implicit bias. www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Conspiracy Beliefs and Monothematic Delusions: A Case for De-pathologizing - Erkenntnis Monothematic delusions and beliefs in conspiracy theories share some important features: they both typically have bizarre contents and are resistant to counterevidence. Yet conspiracy beliefs are gene...

Very pleased to see published the fruits of mine and Anna Ichino's co-writing labour! We argue there are no grounds for the difference in approaches to pathology when it comes to beliefs in conspiracy theories and monothematic delusions. Open access! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

One-Factor versus Two-Factor Theory of Delusion: Replies to Sullivan-Bissett and Noordhof - Neuroethics I would like to thank Sullivan-Bissett and Noordhof for their stimulating comments on my 2023 paper in Neuroethics. In this reply, I will (1) articulate some deeper disagreements that may underpin our...

Are delusions normal explanations of anomalous experiences?🤔

Delighted to share my newly published reply to @emas-b.bsky.social and @paulnoordhof.bsky.social’s thought-provoking commentary on my 2023 paper. In this exchange, I challenge, while they defend, a positive answer to this question. ✨

Thank you Chenwei, very kind! Btw, I enjoyed your response to mine and @paulnoordhof.bsky.social's commentary!

Monothematic delusions are misfunctioning beliefs - Synthese Monothematic delusions are bizarre beliefs which are often accompanied by highly anomalous experiences. For philosophers and psychologists attracted to the exploration of mental phenomena in an evolut...

I have a new paper on delusion which I'm very pleased to see published today, and open access too. I argue that monothematic delusions are best understood as beliefs formed in tricky (read: Millikanian abNormal) conditions, rather than as malfunctions of belief. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Free Internet Access as a Human Right Cambridge Core - Human Rights - Free Internet Access as a Human Right

My tremendous colleague and friend Merten Reglitz's book is published today. Bonus features: (1) Published on #WorldPhilosophyDay, and (2) in time for Christmas! www.cambridge.org/core/books/f...

The Ant and the Grasshopper: Does Biased Cognition Compromise Agency in the Case of Delusions and Conspiracy Theories? Review of Philosophy and Psychology - This paper starts from an observation of our practices: when people are ascribed delusional beliefs or conspiracy beliefs, they tend to be excluded from shared...

New paper! Biases are among the cognitive antecedents of delusions and conspiracy theories. Does this mean that when we have delusions and conspiracy theories we should be excluded from shared epistemic projects? (Spoiler: no) link.springer.com/ar... open access! #philsky

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Delusion Delusions play an important and fascinating role in philosophy and are a particularly fertile area of study in recent years, spanning philosophy of mind and psychology, epistemology, ethics, psycholog...

If you’ve got this far please consider ordering it into your institutional libraries, after all, it is an ‘outstanding resource for both students and researchers’ according to the blurb. www.routledge.com/The-Routledg...

Thank you to Paul Noordhof (not here yet) for stepping in late in the process and writing an additional chapter. Originally slated to write the chapter on Doxasticism, he also wrote the chapter on Non-doxasticism – the two pair beautifully!

Special thanks to @lisabortolotti.bsky.social for her advice back at proposal stage on topics to include (although any omissions are mine). There are some topics that didn’t make it due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, but I hope that the end result is nevertheless pretty comprehensive.

I am tremendously grateful to all 47 contributors who, without exception, made the various stages of pulling this together as easy as it could have been.

There was absolutely a need for a resource like this, and it felt like a huge responsibility to be the one to oversee its genesis. Thanks to Tony Bruce at Routledge (not here yet!) for trusting the task to me, his advice along the way, and for allowing me to choose a new cover quite late in the day.

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Delusion Delusions play an important and fascinating role in philosophy and are a particularly fertile area of study in recent years, spanning philosophy of mind and psychology, epistemology, ethics, psycholog...

For my first post here I'm delighted to share, on publication day, The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Delusion! 🧵 www.routledge.com/The-Routledg...

As someone who moved over today, thank you!!!