| > 1. Mental illness, to the extent it exists, is objective and quantifiable. > 2. Social context is irrelevant to mental health. > 3. Therefore mental health is an individual issue. None of those are positions Szasz holds. The first two are just kind or ridiculous – he said contrary things, a lot. They are pretty opposite to his actual positions. For the third, he is pro-individualist but the "therefore" is wrong, and also the topic "mental health" includes things like the insanity defense which aren't just an individual issue. Your supposed anti-libertarian insights are basically correct – but Szasz already knew them and wrote about them. Of course what is labelled "mentally ill" depends on the social context, rather than being objective. That was a major point Szasz made. Have you read his books? > Obviously there are times when this is needed. Here, where you advocate coercion, you have an actual disagreement with me and Szasz. This, not your points 1-3, is your basic disagreement with Szasz. It's the standard disagreement most people have: they favor coercion, he and I do not. |