Pathologies Of Belief

Description:
Belief systems are supposed to be governed by norms of rationality. Yet some people seem to believe quite extraordinary things: for example, that they are dead, or that their closest relatives have been replaced by impostors, or that the person they see in the mirror is not really them, or that someone else's thoughts are being inserted into their mind. Do people really believe such things? Could beliefs like these simply be rational interpretations of unusual experiences? Why are these beliefs maintained despite their utter implausibility and the uniform skepticism with which others greet them? In this book, psychologists and philosophers describe and discuss a range of case studies of delusional beliefs, drawing out general lessons both for the cognitive architecture of the mind and for the notion of rationality, and exploring connections between the delusional beliefs that occur in schizophrenia and the flawed understanding of beliefs that is characteristic of autism.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: Pathologies of Belief: Martin Davies (Macquarie University) and Max Coltheart (Macquarie University). 2. Wondrous Strange: The Neuropsychology of Abnormal Beliefs: Andrew W. Young (University of York). 3. Towards an Understanding of Delusions of Misidentification: Four Case Studies: Nora Breen (Macquarie University), Diana Caine (Royal Prince Albert Hospital, Sydney, Australia), Max Coltheart (Macquarie University), Julie Hendy (Julie Hendy and Associates, Sydney, Australia) and Corrine Roberts (Julie Hendy and Associates, Sydney, Australia). 4. Refining the Explanation of Cotard's Delusion: Philip Gerrans (Victoria University). 5. Insights into Theory of Mind from Deafness and Autism: Candida C. Peterson (University of Queensland) and Michael Siegal (University of Sheffield). 6. Schizophrenia and Rationality: Ian Gold (Monash University) and Jakob Hohwy (LaTrobe University). 7. Imagination, Delusion and Hallucination: Gregory Currie (University of Nottingham). 8. The Cognitive Neuropsychology of Delusions: Robyn Langdon (Macquarie University) and Max Coltheart (Macquarie University).