A philosophical analysis of the neuroscientific conception of autistic traits: contributions from Georges Canguilhem’s biological normativity

Clara Castañares Biochemistry. Doctoral student in Neuroscience. Scholar, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto Ferreyra Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Córdoba, Argentina. image/svg+xml , Luis Bagatolli Doctor in Chemistry. Principal Investigator, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Director interino, Instituto Ferreyra Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Córdoba, Argentina. image/svg+xml , Guillermo Folguera Biologist. Philosopher. Independent researcher, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Profesor, Universidad de Buenos Aires; Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina. image/svg+xml
Received: 14 September 2021, Accepted: 1 December 2021, Published: 20 December 2021 Open Access
https://doi.org/10.18294/sc.2021.3809 | PMID: 35896326
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Abstract


Taking Georges Canguilhem’s 1943 book The normal and the pathological as a starting point, this article explores the ways in which the neurosciences define, validate, and legitimize the existence of autistic traits as a subclinical expression of autism. The general hypothesis is that different assumptions based on a naturalistic perspective of health and disease have become consolidated in the specialized literature. Such assumptions include that behaviors should be explained strictly in biological terms, that there is an objective and statistical parameter of normality, and that individuals’ behaviors can be analyzed independently of their context. Based on some aspects of Canguilhem’s arguments regarding health, normality, and normativity, we analyze the ways in which the neurosciences assign a quasi-pathological quality to the descriptive notion of autistic traits. It is possible to conclude that this process involves certain assumptions taken in an aprioristic and uncritical manner, which inhibits the discussion of key aspects associated with the nature of autism and that end up pathologizing differences between people.

Keywords: Neurosciences, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Philosophy, Medicalization

Categories: Epistemology, Mental health

Full-text of the article is available for this language: Español.


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