One month to the publication of Why Delusions Matter (Bloomsbury, 2023)!
This week I will present the main ideas in the book at an in-person event in Oxford, a lecture for the MSt in Practical Ethics, and at an online seminar in Poland, at the Institute of Applied Psychology, Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University.
Reflecting on what happens when we call another person's belief delusional helps us realise that we tend to disapprove of that belief because we regard it as implausible, unshakeable, and costly. But there is another dimension to delusional beliefs: for the person who reports the belief and defends it from challenges, the delusion may be a way to explain distressing or unexpected events and to find meaning.