The British Journal of Psychiatry (2007) 191: 453-454. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.107.037309
© 2007 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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SHORT REPORTS

Are people with schizophrenia more logical than healthy volunteers?

GARETH S. OWEN, MRCPsych, JOHN CUTTING, FRCPsych and ANTHONY S. DAVID, FRCPsych

Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

Correspondence: Department of Psychiatry, PO 68, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Email: g.owen{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk

Declaration of interest None.

We tested a phenomenological hypothesis about theoretical and practical rationality in people with schizophrenia. This hypothesis states that in schizophrenia there is an enhancement of theoretical rationality. Our case–control experiment supported this hypothesis. Philosophical models of rationality that prioritise theoretical over practical rationality may thereby apply more in schizophrenic than in healthy states. The study is an example of how experimental psychopathology can illuminate areas of philosophical dispute that are difficult to settle by thought alone.


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