Hypotheses, Neuroscience and Real Persons: The Theme of the 10th International Conference on Philosophy, Psychiatry and Psychology (Editorials) (Conference News‪)‬

Psychiatry faces three exciting developments as we enter the 21st century. First, and best recognised, are the dramatic advances in the neurosciences, notably in functional brain imaging and behavioural genetics, and the unique new insights that these are giving us into the causes of mental disorder. (1) Second, less dramatic but no less significant, are the innovative developments in person-centred psychiatric services in many parts of the world: drawing on multidisciplinary and multi-agency approaches, new models of service delivery are emerging that aim to put the real needs of real people, as individual service users and carers with unique needs and expectations, at the heart of mental health and social care (confer with the work of the US Presidential Commission, (2) the World Health Organization, (3) the World Psychiatric Association, (4) and the UK Department of Health (5)). Third, least well recognised perhaps and certainly least expected, has been the emergence and rapid expansion of a new philosophy of psychiatry, not as an academic add-on to the subject, but as a close partner to the practice of psychiatry in both its research and service delivery aspects. (6) It is these three developments in psychiatry that are reflected in the title of the 10th Annual Conference of the International Network for Philosophy and Psychiatry (INPP) that is being generously co-hosted by the South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) in Sun City this year, namely 'Hypotheses, neuroscience and real persons'. This combination of themes underlines the ways in which hypotheses generated by the new philosophy of psychiatry are supporting developments both in the neurosciences and in person-centred psychiatric services. The fact that the conference is being held in South Africa furthermore reflects the leading role that SASOP has played in the new philosophy of psychiatry in general and in the International Network for Philosophy and Psychiatry in particular. The International Network was launched from Cape Town in 2002, on Heritage Day at the biennial meeting of SASOP. This event also coincided with the launch of SASOP's own Special Interest Group in Philosophy of Psychiatry (POP-SIG), which by the end of the meeting had already grown to be the second-largest special interest group in SASOP.