UCD Centre for Ethics in Public Life (CEPL) Annual Public Lecture

Bridging Science and Testimony:
The Multitudinous Self Model for a Humanist Psychiatry

Associate Professor Şerife Tekin

University College Dublin: Theatre NTh-1-ART (Lower ground floor, Newman Building)

5:00–7:00 pm

A central aim of psychiatry is to identify the properties of mental disorders to enable diagnosis and treatment. As a branch of both science and medicine, psychiatry draws on a variety of research practices to glean information about these properties, e.g., clinical drug trials, case studies, and most recently the tools powered by the Artificial Intelligence technologies. Recent work in philosophy of psychiatry has also drawn attention to the epistemic value of including first-person reports of individuals with mental disorders in investigating the properties of mental disorders and designing effective interventions. However, precisely how these standpoints will be reconciled with scientific and clinical perspectives remains underexplored. In this talk I present the Multitudinous Self Model (MuSe) that showcases how first-person reports can be integrated into research and clinical treatment in psychiatry. Engaging with the MuSe will also open doors for redefining and reimagining what kind of science psychiatry is and should be.

Places are limited; registration is essential.

Please book your place at: (opens in a new window)https://TheSelfandHumanistPsychiatry.eventbrite.ie

Şerife Tekin is an Associate Professor at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. Her work in philosophy of psychiatry takes place at the cusp of philosophy of science, philosophy of mind and bioethics. She has written on topics spanning the place for the self in science, the role of patient narratives in psychiatric research and mental healthcare, ethical issues arising in medical applications of artificial intelligence, and the value of medical humanities education for health professionals. Her latest book, Reclaiming the Self in Psychiatry: Centering Personal Narratives for a Humanist Science (Routledge), was published in 2025.

For enquiries please contact (opens in a new window)Associate Professor Danielle Petherbridge.