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Copyright @ 2007 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

the task. Some of our masters would only lead us astray.Freud, for instance, famously advocated a studiedignorance of philosophy (Freud, 1914/1966). He couldnot have given worse advice because the problem inpsychiatry is not too much philosophy, but too little. Weare about as simple-minded and narrow-focused a profes-sion as anyone could imagine, and worse, we think we arebroad-minded and wise. Instead of Freud, we should havelistened to his contemporary Karl Jaspers (a psychiatristwho became a philosopher) who argued that the worstattitude toward philosophy is to pretend that we do notneed it because then we simply use and enact ourphilosophical assumptions without realizing that we aredoing so and without analyzing the limits and weaknessesof our assumptions (Jaspers, 1959/1997). Perhaps no bettercritique could be given of Freud or, perhaps moreaccurately, of his orthodox followers and their lost centuryof psychoanalytic navel-gazing.For those who love Freud, or dislike Jaspers, let them

listen to a wise man from another field entirely: JohnMaynard Keynes, the economist, who remarked thatB[t]he ideas of economists and political philosophers,both when they are right and when they are wrong, aremore powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed theworld is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believethemselves to be quite exempt from any intellectualinfluence, are usually the slaves of some defuncteconomist[ (Keynes, 1936).Replace economist with philosopher, practical men with

psychiatrists, and you have a key to the historical debility ofpsychiatry as a discipline. But with works like this text, wecan see a new royal roadVone that leads to doubt anduncertainty, but also to less ignorance.

S. Nassir Ghaemi, M.D., M.P.H.Emory University School of Medicine

Atlanta

Disclosure: Dr. Ghaemi receives research grants from GlaxoSmithKlineand Pfizer. In the past year, he has been on the speakers_ bureau ofGlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, and Abbott Laboratories, and inprevious years has served on the advisory boards of GlaxoSmithKline,Janssen, Pfizer, and Abbott Laboratories.

AAPP Home page (2006), Association for the Advancement of Philosophyand Psychiatry Web site. Available at: http://www3.utsouthwestern.edu/aapp/. Accessed January 10, 2007

Ayer AJ (1936 (2001)), Language, Truth, and Logic. New York: PenguinEhrlich E, Ehrlich L, Pepper G, eds. (1994), Karl Jaspers: Basic Philosophical

Writings. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities PressFulford KWM (1989), Moral Theory and Medical Practice. Cambridge:

Cambridge University PressFreud S (1914/1966), On the History of the Psycho-Analytic Movement. New

York: NortonGabbard GO, Kay J (2001), The fate of integrated treatment: whatever

happened to the biopsychosocial psychiatrist? Am J Psychiatry158:1956Y1963

Ghaemi S (2003), The Concepts of Psychiatry: A Pluralistic Approach to theMind and Mental Illness. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UniversityPress

James W (1890 (1950)), The Principles of Psychology. New York: DoverJaspers K (1997 (1959)), General Psychopathology: Vol. 1 and 2. Baltimore,

MD: Johns Hopkins University PressKeynes J (1936), In: The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money.

London: Macmillan, p. 383Russell B (1912/1959), Problems of Philosophy. Oxford, UK: Oxford

University PressWarnock G (1989), J. L. Austin. London: Routledge

Note to Publishers: Books for review should be sent to StevenSchlozman, M.D., Department of Child Psychiatry, Yawkey Centerfor Outpatient Care, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 6900, Boston, MA 02114.

ERRATUM

The BPractice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Bipolar Disoder,[ which appearsin the January 2007 issue of the Journal ( J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 46:107Y125), includes an incorrect citation for I.Hellander 2002 in the reference list. The correct reference is Hellander M (2002), Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation:Membership Survey. Data Presented at: Methodological Issues and Controversies in Clinical Trials with Child and AdolescentPatients with Bipolar Disorder, sponsored by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; June; Chantilly, VA.All references to Hellander, 2002 apppearing in the text refer to the M. Hellander 2002 citation appearing here.

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