Professor Larry L. Wade
Department of Political Science
University of California, Davis
Jacob Sullum replies: Dr. Szasz has always conceded that physical diseases can affect people’s thinking and behavior. In the interview, he granted the possibility that some people who are diagnosed as, say, "schizophrenic" may be suffering from an underlying brain defect. He believes psychiatrists have not demonstrated such a defect and do not have a reliable diagnostic test for it.
Whether or not he’s right about that, his critique of "mental illness" does not hinge on this issue. If schizophrenia and depression are in fact "brain diseases," then they are not "mental illnesses."
Reinforcing the Foundation
Absolutely brilliant review by Mark Goldblatt of Stanley Fish’s The Trouble With Principle ("Shaking the Anti-Foundation," June). I have been making many of the same points in reaction to multi-culturalism, affirmative action, social construction, etc., in my courses for some time now (ergo, my reaction is not disinterested). This review will definitely be among the required readings.
I do, however, have a few observations. While both divine and volcanic eruptions may be said to be based on the "law of causality," it seems to me that there is a vast epistemological chasm between the two. The former is based on faith and the latter on the scientific method. As Alan Sokal and others have made abundantly clear, the critique of the scientific method as socially constructed simply does not hold. In short, there are certain methods (principles) that are demonstrably more valid than others. The fact that social constructivists can object to "rationality" while using the Internet and flitting to conferences hither and yon boggles the mind.
As well, "impartiality" and "tolerance" are obviously not disinterested. They work and are preferable to other "competing faiths" precisely because the "interest" here extends to everyone.
Certainly, these observations are implicit in Goldblatt’s review. However, given the absolute dominance of antifoundationalism and social constructivism in most departments of humanities and social sciences, I think they need to be reiterated as forcefully and as often as possible.
Ben Lawton
West Lafayette, IN
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