GENERAL SEMANTICS : Implications Of Linguistic Revision For Theoretical And Clinical Neuro-Psychiatry

The object of this paper is to call attention to the linguistic problems involved in contemporary psychiatry, not only in regard to psychiatric theory and nosology but in therapy as well. Linguistic factors are shown to be important determinants of personality structure, and cognizance of them is essential to any general theory of values upon which the rational treatment of personality deviation depends. Several contemporary leaders of psychiatric thought, among them William A. White, C. Macfie Campbell, Adolf Meyer and John T. MacCurdy, have mhde tentative generalizations and suggestions in this field, but it has remained for Alfred Korzybski to make a systematic investigation and evolve a general theory with specific application in psychiatric and other fields, thus relating many previously isolated areas of scientific knowledge into a synthetic "unified field theory" of what may be called general anthropology. The salient points of his work, as presented in his latest book, Science and Sanity,' are here presented with some discussion of their implications. In a later publication practical applications and clinical results will be reported.