I am currently conducting empirical research concerning the content of delusions, primarily those occurring in schizophrenia.
My research is funded by a subgrant I received from the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion at the University of Oxford as part of the “New Horizons for Science and Religion in Central and Eastern Europe” grant provided by the Templeton Foundation.
Research questions
My starting point was the phenomenological tradition of studying schizophrenic delusions. The main questions concern whether there is anything special about them. Additionally, I wanted to confront particular hypotheses, ideas and intuitions about the mechanisms of delusions that are prevalent in philosophy of psychiatry with the lived experience of specialist who practice psychiatry and psychology. I am focusing on delusions that occur typically in people diagnosed with schizophrenia, seeking confirmation (or rebuttal) of ideas concerning their special nature and specific contents.
However, in the course of interviews, several additional lines of inquiry opened. I’m now more focused on epistemological aspects of delusions. Moreover, I developed a side-project, investigating whether delusions are possible in nonhuman animals and small children (click here for more details).
The data
I have conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with (currently only Polish) specialists in the fields of psychiatry and psychology who work with individuals experiencing delusions.
I am also interested in real-life stories of people experiencing delusions and the experiences of specialist working with them. As a philosopher, I am immersed in philosophical categories that do not always align with psychiatric and psychological practice; I am very keen to confront some of these categories with practical experience.
The part of the project funded by the Ian Ramsey Centre (12 interviews) is completed, but I have chosen to conduct additional 6 interviews and I’m currently analysing my data.
Maja Kittel 