Project summary

Contemporary psychopathology is remarkably good at describing mental disorders, but much less successful at explaining what they are and why they occur. Modern diagnostic systems have improved reliability by establishing increasingly precise criteria for identifying disorders, yet greater diagnostic agreement does not necessarily provide greater understanding of the underlying phenomena. Beyond these diagnostic systems lies a wide range of theories that attempt to explain particular disorders or dimensions of mental illness, but these contributions remain highly fragmented and often operate at different explanatory levels.

This project seeks to address that fragmentation by developing a general theory of psychopathology: a conceptual framework that relates the different dimensions involved in mental disorder and organizes existing explanations by the phenomena and causal levels they address. Rather than proposing another competing explanation of psychopathology, the project asks whether insights scattered among different traditions can be critically integrated into a more coherent account of mental disorder, preserving what they explain well, identifying genuine disagreements, and distinguishing explanations that may appear incompatible simply because they address different aspects or causal levels of the same phenomenon.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

The project will use Thomistic philosophical anthropology as its organizing framework because it provides a systematic account of human nature in which bodily, affective, cognitive, and volitional processes can be distinguished and related. The theory will be developed through five interconnected papers:

1. History and description: Trace the development of psychopathology and examine the limits of descriptive approaches.

2. Health and illness: Establish an account of health and disease in general, and from it define psychological health and disorder.

3. Existing general theories: Review major attempts to explain psychopathology as a whole, identifying their contributions and limitations.

4. The general theory: Critically integrate these contributions and introduce the distinctions needed for a coherent theoretical architecture.

5. Causality: Examine the different kinds of causes involved in mental disorders and how they interact across psychopathologies.

Each paper will be submitted independently to peer-reviewed journals, allowing the theory to be scrutinized and refined while establishing the foundation for a longer research program in psychopathology.

How will this funding be used?

The funding will support approximately five months of research and writing, allowing me to reduce other paid work and dedicate sustained time to completing and revising the five papers described above. Because I have already assembled most of the necessary bibliography and completed much of the conceptual groundwork, the project requires little additional expenditure. At this stage, I primarily need time to turn that preparation into finished, publishable research.

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

My name is Nicolás Eyzaguirre, and I am the sole researcher on this project. I am a psychologist and Associate Researcher at Universidad Finis Terrae in Chile, where I previously taught Psychopathology, Human Affectivity, and Philosophical Anthropology, among other courses. My research focuses on the intersection of philosophical anthropology and psychology. My publications include Etiology of Gender Incongruence and Its Levels of Evidence: A Scoping Review Protocol (PLOS ONE) and Expressive Writing in the Light of Integral Psychology of the Person (New Ideas in Psychology).

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What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

Because I have already assembled the necessary bibliography and worked extensively on the structure and conceptual foundations of each paper, I see relatively little risk of failing to complete the manuscripts themselves. The main uncertainty is whether all five will ultimately be accepted by high-impact (Q1 or Q2) peer-reviewed journals. To mitigate this risk, I have identified several potential journals whose scope is compatible with different parts of the project:

• Philosophical Psychology

• New Ideas in Psychology

• Frontiers in Psychology

• Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology

• Review of Philosophy and Psychology

• Theory & Psychology

• The Linacre Quarterly

Rejection from a particular journal would therefore delay publication rather than prevent completion of the project, since each manuscript could be revised in response to reviewer feedback and submitted to another appropriate journal.

How much money have you raised in the last 12 months, and from where?

I have raised no money so far.