Scientific and philosophical perspectives on hallucination: essays that draw on empirical evidence from psychology, neuroscience, and cutting-edge philosophical theory. Reflection on the nature of hallucination has relevance for many traditional philosophical debates concerning the nature of the mind, perception, and our knowledge of the world. In recent years, neuroimaging techniques and scientific findings on the nature of hallucination, combined with interest in new philosophical theories of perception such as disjunctivism, have brought the topic of hallucination once more to the forefront of philosophical thinking. Scientific evidence from psychology, neuroscience, and psychiatry sheds light on the functional role and physiology of actual hallucinations; some disjunctivist theories offer a radically new and different philosophical conception of hallucination. This volume offers interdisciplinary perspectives on the nature of hallucination, offering essays by both scientists and philosophers. Contributors first consider topics from psychology and neuroscience, including neurobiological mechanisms of hallucination and the nature and phenomenology of auditory-verbal hallucinations. Philosophical discussions follow, with contributors first considering disjunctivism and then, more generally, the relation between hallucination and the nature of experience. Contributors István Aranyosi, Richard P. Bentall, Paul Coates, Fabian Dorsch, Katalin Farkas, Charles Fernyhough, Dominic H. ffytche, Benj Hellie, Matthew Kennedy, Fiona Macpherson, Ksenija Maravic da Silva, Peter Naish, Simon McCarthy-Jones, Matthew Nudds, Costas Pagondiotis, Ian Phillips, Dimitris Platchias, Howard Robinson, Susanna Schellenberg, Filippo Varese

The idea of a disjunctive theory of visual experiences first found expression in J.M. Hinton's pioneering 1973 book Experiences. In the first monograph in this exciting area since then, William Fish develops a comprehensive disjunctive theory, incorporating detailed accounts of the three core kinds of visual experience--perception, hallucination, and illusion--and an explanation of how perception and hallucination could be indiscriminable from one another without having anything in common. In the veridical case, Fish contends that the perception of a particular state of affairs involves the subject's being acquainted with that state of affairs, and that it is the subject's standing in this acquaintance relation that makes the experience possess a phenomenal character. Fish argues that when we hallucinate, we are having an experience that, while lacking phenomenal character, is mistakenly supposed by the subject to possess it. Fish then shows how this approach to visual experience is compatible with empirical research into the workings of the brain and concludes by extending this treatment to cover the many different types of illusion that we can be subject to.

Hallucination-focused Integrative Treatment (HIT) is a specific treatment for auditory verbal hallucinations which integrates techniques from CBT, systems therapy, psychoeducation, coping training, rehabilitation and medication. It emphasises active family involvement, crisis intervention when required and specialised motivational strategies. In clinical trials HIT has been proven to have longer lasting and wider ranging effects than other therapies, high patient satisfaction scores and a low drop-out rate. In Hallucination-focused Integrative Therapy, Jack Jenner presents a full manual for using HIT with patients. Divided into five parts, the book offers a clear and straightforward explanation of each aspect of the treatment. Part One introduces auditory verbal hallucinations in their social and historical context. Part Two explains the need for an integrative approach to treating them and sets out the eleven-step diagnostic procedure. Part Three describes the treatment in full, including motivational strategies, the constituent modules and how to integrate them, flexible implementation of a tailor-made procedure and its overall effectiveness. It also demonstrates the use of HIT with specific patient groups, including those suffering from trauma, children and adolescents, those who are suicidal and those with learning difficulties. Part Four examines other hallucination-focused therapies. Finally, Part Five covers insight-oriented psychotherapies. The book also includes several appendices of supplementary material which enhance the content. Illustrated throughout with case studies and clinical material, Hallucination-focused Integrative Therapy will be of interest to psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses and social workers working with patients who experience auditory verbal hallucinations.