Philosophy of Psychiatry - New Models of Public Mental Health
The Royal Institute
of Philosophy
The Institute was formed in 1925, when Sydney E. Hooper believed that philosophy with its matters that ‘constitute the deepest and most permanent interests of the human spirit’ should be made accessible to those that find its teachings thoughtful. A council was created of over a hundred members, it included people such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the current Prime Minister and four past Prime Ministers, as well as professors from a range of subjects.
Not long after the council was formed the first lectures began, including Russell’s Problems of Philosophy. With the success of the lectures and the institute, Hooper began the ‘Journal of Philosophical Studies’ which is now simply named ‘Philosophy’. The Institute will celebrate its centenary in 2025, and to this day are committed to help the advancement within philosophical teaching and research, and they continue to try and bring philosophy ‘into direct contact with the general public’.
Collaborators & Affiliations
The International Network
for Philosophy & Psychiatry
INPP was launched following a proposal by Bill Fulford, John Sadler and Giovanni Stanghellini in 2002 at a conference hosted in Cape Town, South Africa. The mission the International Network has always been to embrace the diversity and traditions of thought of cultures across the world, and support policy, service development and research through the cross-disciplinary work between philosophy and mental health disciplines.
The Mental Health Foundation
The Mental Health Foundation has been the leading charity within the UK for the public’s mental health. They strive towards the idea of good mental health for all, and how this can be achievable for everyone in all communities, with a particular focus on those who are at greatest risk.
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The Foundation do a lot of practical work, they look at the best ways to improve mental health and try and enrol them out as far as possible, they publish reports on mental health, and what is likely to be the cause of poor mental health. Probably one of the most influential things the Foundation is responsible for is the running of Mental Health Awareness Week across the UK, which takes place annually, this has raised a lot more understanding for what it means to be mentally healthy, and how we can go about improving mental health for everyone.
MIND Association
The Mind Association supports and helps promote philosophical research, whilst also publishing one of the leading academic quarterly journals in philosophy; Mind. The Association was officially formed after the death of Henry Sidgwick in 1900, and since then the Association not only oversees the work of the journal, but they provide funding and support for philosophical conferences, and research funding through Mind studentships and fellowships.
The Collaborating Centre
for Values-based Practice
The Centre is based at St Catherine’s College Oxford, the centre brings in a large variety of individuals and organisations that work on values-based practice from all over the world. The Centre mainly focuses on mental health and social care, although one of their main core aims is extending values-based approaches to other areas of health. The values-based approaches means building effective links with all areas, some include ethics, law, health economics and medical humanities.
