On Harm

Cooper, Rachel (2021) On Harm. In: Defining Mental Disorder. MIT Press. ISBN 0262045648

Abstract

Jerome Wakefield has argued that disorders are harmful dysfunctions where “harmful is a value-term based on social norms”. However, although the harmful element is an essential component of his account, Wakefield has said comparatively little about it and has concentrated on fleshing out the dysfunction part of his account. In this paper I explore what it means to say that a disorder is harmful.