Mental health as the moral dimension of health. Bioethics and dialogue in psychiatry and the behavioral sciences

Abstract

Many classical works on “practical philosophy” or ethics could be read as treatises on psychology or psychiatry. They contain “patterns of psychological thought” based on conceptions about human nature that either describe or, most frequently, prescribe behavioral norms applicable to individuals and societies (Averill, 1976). Ethics is the linguistic justification of moral conduct.