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Cosmetic Psychopharmacology, Inauthentic Experiences, and the Instrumentalization of Human Faculties: Beyond Post-emotional Society

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Psychiatry and Neuroscience Update - Vol. II

Abstract

This chapter explores the phenomenon of inauthentic experiences as a negative consequence of the new trends in cosmetic psychopharmacology, concluding that they are also the psychological manifestation of the tension, in late modernity, between two rival versions for a moral paradigm—Classic and Modern—and in which transition, rationality, affectivity, and will are being progressively and consecutively instrumentalized. Moreover, it is argued that this post-emotional scenario poses a threat to mental stability as well as social cohesion. The second general objective of this chapter is analyzing three types of psychological complaints by patients about inauthenticity—those related to the artificial origin of emotions, to the physical nature of its content, and to its episodic coherence; on the other hand, I present and compare three rival contemporary solutions to the problem of inauthenticity: the psychological, the organic, and the narrative.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mind-Brain Group, School of Medicine/Institute for Culture and Society, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea s/n, Pamplona, Navarra, 31008, Spain

    Luis E. Echarte MD, PhD

  2. Unit of Medical Education and Bioethics, School of Medicine, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

    Luis E. Echarte MD, PhD

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  1. Luis E. Echarte MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Luis E. Echarte MD, PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National University of Cuyo, Catholic University of Argentina, Guaymallen Mendoza, Argentina

    Pascual Ángel Gargiulo

  2. Institute of Neurobiology Foundation, National Academy of Medicine, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Humberto Luis Mesones-Arroyo

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Echarte, L.E. (2017). Cosmetic Psychopharmacology, Inauthentic Experiences, and the Instrumentalization of Human Faculties: Beyond Post-emotional Society. In: Gargiulo, P., Mesones-Arroyo, H. (eds) Psychiatry and Neuroscience Update - Vol. II. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53126-7_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53126-7_8

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