Classification in Psychopathology: Realism, Fallibilism, and a Dimensional Approach

• What is This Article About?
• Time for a Change
• What Makes a Bad Diagnostic Scheme?
  • If Human Artifacts, then Constructionism is Appropriate
    • Human Artifacts
    • Constructionism
  • Inductivism and the Atheoretical Basis
    • Inductivism in the Context of Discovery
    • Inductivism in the Context of Justification
  • Operationism and Infallibilism
  • Classical Sets and the Categorical Approach
    • Intensions Versus Extensions
    • Categories Based on Infallible Operationism
• What Makes a Good Diagnostic Scheme?
  • If Natural Kinds, then Realism is Appropriate
    • Natural Kinds
    • Realism
      • Copy Theory of Truth
      • Critical Realism
  • Theories that Outpace the Facts
    • Knowledge
    • Growth of Knowledge
    • Why Multiple Theories Are Good: Growing Verisimilitude
    • Theories and Taxonomies
    • Theory-Ladenness of Natural Kind Terms
  • Empirical Discovery and Fallibilism
  • Fuzzy Sets and the Dimensional Approach
    • Fuzzy Sets
    • Dimensions Versus Categories
      • The Conceptual Distinction
        • Dimensions Based on Infallible Operationism
        • Dimensions Based on Fallible Empirical Theories
      • The Empirical Distinction
        • Is the Empirical Distinction Important?
        • Is the Empirical Distinction Detectable?
• Examples
  • Double Depression: The Ultimate Wrong Approach to Psychopathology
  • The Heterogeneity of Symptoms of Depression
    • The Bad: A Categorical Approach Based on Infallible Indicators
    • The Good: A Dimensional Approach Based on Fallible Indicators
  • The Heterogeneity of Symptoms of Schizophrenia
    • The Bad: A Categorical Approach Based on Infallible Indicators
    • The Good: A Dimensional Approach Based on Fallible Indicators
  • The Dimensionality of Schizoaffective Disorder
  • The Dimensionality of Mixed Anxiety and Depression
  • The Dimensionality of Bipolar Disorder
    • The Bad: Three Unrelated Disorders, BP-I, BP-II, and Cyclothymia, and Normal Diurnal Rhythms
    • The Good: One Dimension of Severity
  • The Dimensionality of Personality Disorders
• Goal-Directed Learning: The Positive Heuristic and Creating the Concepts We Need
• Goal-Directed Theory Construction and the Future of Psychodiagnosis
• Epilogue: Fallibilism and the Open Society