Kraeplin, the classificatory challenge, and other anti-narrative scripts

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the epistemological framework on which Kraepelin's psychiatry was built. We are particularly interested in Kraepelin's position relating to the criteria of classification of mental illnesses; a topic that was widely discussed by in psychiatry throughout the world at the end of the XIX century. We analyze his contributions to the discussion concerning the definition of scientific and objectively valid criteria for the classification of psychiatric illnesses. Then, we show how settling upon certain diagnostic criteria led to paying little attention to patients narratives, and giving major weight to the paraphernalia of diagnostic categories.