Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Personality Disorder: Philosophical Problems

  • Living reference work entry
  • Latest version View entry history
  • First Online:
Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine

  • 20 Accesses

Abstract

The concept of personality disorder was introduced in the twentieth century. Among the key events in the development of the personality disorder concept are the introduction and subsequent rejection of degeneration theory, the work of Kurt Schneider, the DSM-III, and dimensional models of personality disorders in DSM-5 and ICD-11. The ideas that belong to the domain of personality disorder are residues of its conceptual history. This patchwork of ideas is herein used to guide an exploration of ongoing philosophical problems. The prior concepts out of which personality disorder emerged include constitution, temperament, self, character, and personality. The concepts of constitution and temperament raise the issue of the biological basis of personality and personality disorder. Recent work in behavioral genetics supports the hypothesis that personality has a genetic component, but not that it is genetically determined. Surprisingly, the genetic component in personality may become more important in open societies where people can self-select into environments. For the concept of self, the notions of causal explanation and self-continuity are important. Recent work on the psychometrics of latent variable modeling has given new life to traditional empiricist suspicions about reifying personality traits as causal entities. Longitudinal studies indicate that there is both continuity and variability in personality and personality disorder across the life span. Character is a concept drawn from moral theory and draws attention to the close association between some personality disorders and morally disvalued states. In clinical settings, separating responsibility and blame is an important skill for working with patients diagnosed with a personality disorder. The concept of personality was once referred to self-presentation but was gradually interiorized to leading the problem of distinguishing surface versus deep features of personality. The chapter concludes with a survey of six different models regarding the nature of “disorder” in personality disorder.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alexander F (1935/1949) The psychoanalysis of the total personality: the application of Freud’s theory of the ego to the neuroses (trans: Glueck BC, Lewin BD). The Coolidge Foundation

    Google Scholar 

  • Allport GW (1937) Personality: a psychological interpretation. Henry Holt, Oxford, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association (2013) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edn. American Psychiatric Publishing, Washington, DC

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Appelbaum PS, Leibenluft E, Kendler KS (2021) Iterative revision of the DSM: an interim report from the DSM-5 steering committee. Psychiatr Serv 72(11):1348–1349. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.202100013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bem DJ, Allen A (1974) On predicting some of the people some of the time: the search for cross-situational consistencies in behavior. Psychol Rev 81(6):506–520. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0037130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berrios GE (1996) The history of mental symptoms. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Boorse C (1975) On the distinction between disease and illness. Philos Public Aff 5:49–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Borsboom D, Kievit RA, Cervone D, Hood SB (2009) The two disciplines of scientific psychology, or: the disunity of psychology as a working hypothesis. In: Valsiner J, Molenaar PCM, Lyra MCDP, Chaudhary N, Valsiner J, Molenaar PCM, Lyra MCDP, Chaudhary N (eds) Dynamic process methodology in the social and developmental sciences. Springer Science + Business Media, New York, pp 67–97

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bouchard TJ, McGue M (1990) Genetic and rearing environmental influences on adult personality: an analysis of adopted twins reared apart. J Pers 58(1):263–292. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1990.tb00916.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charland LC (2004) Moral treatment and the personality disorders. In: Radden J (ed) The philosophy of psychiatry: a companion. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 64–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark LA (2005) Temperament as a unifying basis for personality and psychopathology. J Abnorm Psychol 114(4):505–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cleckley HM (1941) The mask of sanity; an attempt to reinterpret the so-called psychopathic personality. Mosby, St. Louis

    Google Scholar 

  • Cramer AOJ, Waldrop LJ, van der Mass HLJ, Borsboom D (2010) Comorbidity: a network perspective. Behav Brain Sci 33(2–3):137–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epstein S (1979) The stability of behavior: I. On predicting most of the people much of the time. J Pers Soc Psychol 37(7):1097–1126. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.37.7.1097

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freud S (1915/1957) The unconscious (trans: Baines CM). In: Strachey J (ed) The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud, vol XIV (1914–1916). The Hogarth Press, London, pp 161–215

    Google Scholar 

  • Funder DC (1997) The personality puzzle. W.W. Norton, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldie P (2004) On personality. Routledge, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Horwitz AV (2023) Personality disorders: a short history of narcissistic, borderline, antisocial, and other types. Johns Hopkins University Press. https://books.google.com/books?id=yVVFzwEACAAJ

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • James W (1890) The principles of psychology. Holt, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson W, Turkheimer E, Gottesman II, Bouchard TJ Jr (2009) Beyond heritability: twin studies in behavioral research. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 18(4):217–220. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01639.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones EE, Harris VA (1967) The attribution of attitudes. J Exp Soc Psychol 3(1):1–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kagan J, Snidman N, Arcus D, Reznick JS (1994) Galen’s prophecy: temperament in human nature. Basic Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kernberg OF (1975) Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. Jason Aronson, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiehl KA (2014) The psychopath whisperer: the science of those without conscience. Crown Publishers/Random House, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohut H (1971) The analysis of the self: a systematic psychoanalytic approach to the treatment of narcissistic personality disorders. International Universities Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotov R, Krueger RF, Watson D, Achenbach TM, Althoff RR, Bagby RM, Brown TA, Carpenter WT, Caspi A, Clark LA, Eaton NR, Forbes MK, Forbush KT, Goldberg D, Hasin D, Hyman SE, Ivanova MY, Lynam DR, Markon K, Miller JD, Moffitt TE, Morey LC, Mullins-Sweatt SN, Ormel J, Patrick CJ, Regier DA, Rescorla L, Ruggero CJ, Samuel DB, Sellbom M, Simms LJ, Skodol AE, Slade T, South SC, Tackett JL, Waldman ID, Waszczuk MA, Widiger TA, Wright AGC, Zimmerman M (2017) The hierarchical taxonomy of psychopathology (HiTOP): a dimensional alternative to traditional nosologies. J Abnorm Psychol 126(4):454–477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krueger RF, Kotov R, Watson D, Forbes MK, Eaton NR, Ruggero CJ, Simms LJ, Widiger TA, Achenbach TM, Bach B, Bagby RM, Bornovalova MA, Carpenter WT, Chmielewski M, Cicero DC, Clark LA, Conway C, DeClercq B, DeYoung CG, Docherty AR, Drislane LE, First MB, Forbush KT, Hallquist M, Haltigan JD, Hopwood CJ, Ivanova MY, Jonas KG, Latzman RD, Markon KE, Miller JD, Morey LC, Mullins-Sweatt SN, Ormel J, Patalay P, Patrick CJ, Pincus AL, Regier DA, Reininghaus U, Rescorla LA, Samuel DB, Sellbom M, Shackman AJ, Skodol A, Slade T, South SC, Sunderland M, Tackett JL, Venables NC, Waldman ID, Waszczuk MA, Waugh MH, Wright AGC, Zald DH, Zimmermann J (2018) Progress in achieving quantitative classification of psychopathology. World Psychiatry 17(3):282–293. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lenzenweger MF (2006) Schizotaxia, schizotypy, and schizophrenia: Paul E. Meehl’s blueprint for the experimental psychopathology and genetics of schizophrenia. J Abnorm Psychol 115:195–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin K (1935) A dynamic theory of personality. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Livesley WJ, Jang KL (2000) Toward an empirically based classification of personality disorder. J Personal Disord 14(2):137–151. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2000.14.2.137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Livesley WJ, Jang KL, Vernon PA (1998) Phenotypic and genetic structure of traits delineating personality disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 55:941–948

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lombardo GP, Foschi R (2003) The concept of personality in 19-th century French and 20-th century American psychology. Hist Psychol 6(2):123–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCrae RR, Costa PT Jr (1997) Personality trait structure as a human universal. Am Psychol 52:509–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGue M, Gottesman II (2015) Behavioral genetics. In: Cautin RL, Lilienfeld SO (eds) The encyclopedia of clinical psychology, vol I. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 341–351

    Google Scholar 

  • Mischel W (1968) Personality and assessment. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Morey LC, Meyer JK (2012) Course of personality disorder. In: Widiger TA, Widiger TA (eds) The Oxford handbook of personality disorders. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 275–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray HA (1938) Explorations in personality. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson IAM (2003) Inventing personality: Gordon Allport and the science of selfhood. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nisbett RE, Wilson TD (1977) Telling more than we can know: verbal reports on mental processes. Psychol Rev 84(3):231–259. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.3.231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickard H (2013) Responsibility without blame: philosophical reflections on clinical practice. In: Fulford K, Davies M, Graham G, Sadler JZ, Stanghellini G, Gipps R, Thornton T (eds) The Oxford handbook of philosophy and psychiatry. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp 1134–1152

    Google Scholar 

  • Prichard JC (1835/1963) Moral insanity (trans: Swan J). In: Hunter R, Macalpine I (eds) Three hundred years of psychiatry (1535–1860). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp 839–842

    Google Scholar 

  • Reich W (1949) Character analysis, 3rd edn. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts BW, Walton KE, Viechtbauer W (2006) Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychol Bull 132(1):1–25. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadler JZ (2013) Vice and mental disorder. In: Fulford K, Davies M, Graham G, Sadler JZ, Stanghellini G, Gipps R, Thornton T (eds) The Oxford handbook of philosophy and psychiatry. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp 451–479

    Google Scholar 

  • Saulsman LM, Page AC (2004) The five-factor model and personality disorder empirical literature: a meta-analytic review. Clin Psychol Rev 23(8):1055–1085

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scarr S, McCartney K (1983) How people make their own environments: a theory of genotype→environment effects. Child Dev 54(2):424–435

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider K (1923/1959) Psychopathic personalities. Cassell

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider K (1923/1950) Psychopathic personalities (trans: Hamilton MW). Cassell, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Schramme T (2014) Being amoral: psychopathy and moral incapacity. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schuur R (2023) The disease versus morality distinction: essays in the philosophy of medicine. University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Sellbom M, Carragher N, Sunderland M, Calear AL, Batterham PJ (2020) The role of maladaptive personality domains across multiple levels of the HiTOP structure. Personal Ment Health 14(1):30–50. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.1461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shedler J, Beck A, Fonagy P, Gabbard GO, Gunderson J, Kernberg O, … Westen D (2010a) Personality disorders in DSM-5. Am J Psychiatry 167:1026–1028

    Google Scholar 

  • Shedler J, Beck A, Fonagy P, Gabbard GO, Gunderson J, Kernberg O, Michels R, Westen D (2010b) Personality disorders in DSM-5. Am J Psychiatry 167:1026–1028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stagner R (1937) Psychology of personality. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Turkheimer E (1998) Heritability and biological explanation. Psychol Rev 105(4):782–791. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.105.4.782-791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyrer P, Mulder R, Kim YR, Crawford MJ (2019) The development of the ICD-11 classification of personality disorders: an amalgam of science, pragmatism, and politics. Annu Rev Clin Psychol 15:481–502. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050718-095736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Maas HLJ, Dolan CV, Grasman RPPP, Wicherts JM, Huizenga HM, Raijmakers MEJ (2006) A dynamical model of general intelligence: the positive manifold of intelligence by mutualism. Psychol Rev 113:842–861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wakefield JC (1992) Disorder as harmful dysfunction: a conceptual critique of DSM-III-R’s definition of mental disorder. Psychol Rev 99(2):232–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widiger TA, Sanderson CJ (1995) Toward a dimensional model of personality disorders. In: Livesley WJ (ed) The DSM-IV personality disorders. Guilford Press, New York, pp 433–458

    Google Scholar 

  • Zachar P (2011) The clinical nature of personality disorders: answering the neo-Szazian critique. Philos Psychiatry Psychol 18(3):191–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Zachar P, Krueger RF (2013) Personality disorder and validity: a history of controversy. In: Fulford K, Davies M, Graham G, Sadler JZ, Stanghellini G, Gipps R, Thornton T (eds) The Oxford handbook of philosophy and psychiatry. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp 889–910

    Google Scholar 

  • Zachar P, Potter NN (2010) Personality disorders: moral or medical kinds-or both. Philos Psychiatry Psychol 17(2):101–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Zachar P, Krueger RF, Kendler KS (2016) Personality disorder in the DSM-5: an oral history. Psychol Med 46:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zachar P, Regier DA, Kendler KS (2019) The aspirations for a paradigm shift in DSM-5: an oral history. J Nerv Ment Dis 202(4):346–352. https://libproxy.aum.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=107898219&site=ehost-live

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zachar P, First MB, Kendler KS (2023) Prolonged grief disorder and the DSM: a history. J Nerv Ment Dis 211(5):386–392. https://doi.org/10.1097/nmd.0000000000001618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zandersen M, Henriksen MG, Parnas J (2019) A recurrent question: what is borderline? J Personal Disord 33(3):341–369. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi_2018_32_348

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Auburn University Montgomery, Montgomery, AL, USA

    Peter Zachar

Authors
  1. Peter Zachar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Zachar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophisches Seminar, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Thomas Schramme

  2. Dept. of Politics, Media & Philosophy, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia

    Mary Walker

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 Springer Nature B.V.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Zachar, P. (2024). Personality Disorder: Philosophical Problems. In: Schramme, T., Walker, M. (eds) Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8706-2_77-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8706-2_77-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-8706-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-8706-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Personality Disorder: Philosophical Problems
    Published:
    08 March 2024

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8706-2_77-2

  2. Original

    Personality Disorder: Philosophical Problems
    Published:
    04 February 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8706-2_77-1

Search

Navigation