Lisa Bortolotti

{{Infobox philosopher

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| name = Lisa Bortolotti

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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1974}}

| birth_place = Bologna, Italy

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| alma_mater = Australian National University

| notable_works = Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs

| awards = American Philosophical Association book prize

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| institutions = University of Birmingham

| main_interests = Philosophy of psychiatry
Philosophy of psychology
Bioethics

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| website = {{URL|sites.google.com/site/lisabortolottiphilosophy/home}}

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Lisa Bortolotti (born 1974 in Bologna) is an Italian philosopher who is currently professor of philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Her work is in the philosophy of the cognitive sciences, including philosophy of psychology and philosophy of psychiatry, as well as bioethics and medical ethics. She was educated at the University of Bologna, King's College London, University of Oxford and the Australian National University, and worked briefly at the University of Manchester before beginning at Birmingham, where she has been a lecturer, senior lecturer, reader and now professor.

She has published five sole-authored books: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science (Polity Press, 2008); Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs (Oxford University Press, 2009); Irrationality (Polity, 2014); The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs (Oxford University Press, 2020); and Why Delusions Matter (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023). Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs, in which Bortolotti challenges the argument that delusions cannot be beliefs due to their irrationality, was the winner of the 2011 American Philosophical Association book prize. In addition, she edited Philosophy and Happiness (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and Delusions in Context (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) and co-edited Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives (Oxford University Press, 2009).

Education

Bortolotti studied philosophy at the University of Bologna, spending several months at the University of Leeds, graduating in 1997. Her undergraduate dissertation, supervised by Eva Picardi, was on conceptual relativism. In 1998, she graduated with an MA in philosophy from King's College London. Here, she wrote on Scientific Revolutions under Donald Gillies. Next, she moved to the University of Oxford, where she read for a BPhil. Her thesis, supervised by Bill Newton-Smith, was on "the rationality debate in philosophy and the cognitive sciences". Bortolotti read for her PhD at the Australian National University. Her doctoral thesis, which was supervised by Martin Davies, challenged Donald Davidson's account of belief ascription. She completed her PhD in 2004.{{cite web|author=Bortolotti, Lisa|url=https://sites.google.com/site/lisabortolottiphilosophy/CV|access-date=17 August 2016|title=Essential CV}}

Career

File:2018 Book DelusionsInContext.pdf version of Bortolotti's 2018 edited collection Delusions in Context]]

Bortolotti worked as a research associate at the University of Manchester from 2004 to 2005. She worked as part of the Centre for Social Ethics and Policy (where she was also an honorary lecturer) under John Harris on a project exploring the nature of research, also covering research ethics and law. She became a part of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham in 2005, as a lecturer. In 2007, she took up a visiting professorship at the European School of Molecular Medicine, Milan, which she held until 2008; in that same year, she spent several months at the Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University on a research fellowship and was promoted to senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham. 2008 was also the year of publication of her first book, which was a textbook entitled An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, published by Polity.Bortolotti, Lisa (2008). An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science. Cambridge: Polity. A Portuguese version was published in 2013.Bortolotti, Lisa (2013). Introdução à Filosofia da Ciência. Lisbon: Gradiva.

Bortolotti published three books in 2009. She edited Philosophy and Happiness, a collection released by Palgrave Macmillan,Botolotti, Lisa, ed. (2009). Philosophy and Happiness. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. and co-edited, with Matthew R. Broome, Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives.Broome, Matthew R., and Lisa Bortolotti, eds. (2009). Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The former book arose from a 2007 conference at Birmingham entitled Happiness and the Meaning of Life. It featured 14 chapters, split into two sections: "Happiness and the Meaningful Life" and "Happiness and the Mind".Waghorn, Nicholas (13 July 2010). "[http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=5638&cn=394 Review – Philosophy and Happiness] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103161250/http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=5638&cn=394 |date=3 January 2019 }}". Metapsychology Online Reviews 14 (28).Hall, Alicia (2011). "Review of Philosophy and Happiness". International Journal of Wellbeing 1 (1): 189–92. {{doi|10.5502/ijw.v1i1.19}} {{open access}} The latter book was published by Oxford University Press, and contained essays by a range of academics, broadly addressing the status of psychiatry as a science. It was widely reviewed,St. Stoyanov, Drozdstoj (217 May 2009). "[http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=5249&cn=394 Review – Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103210232/http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=5249&cn=394 |date=3 January 2019 }}". Metapsychology Online Reviews 13 (47).Zachar, Peter (2010). "Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives". Psychological Medicine 40 (5): 874–5. {{doi|10.1017/S0033291710000103}}.Cavanna, Andrea Eugenio, Sachin Shah and Hugh Rickards (2010). "Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives". Cognitive Neuropsychiatry 15 (6): 568–73. {{doi|10.1080/13546805.2010.484297}}.Callender, John (2010). "Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives". The British Journal of Psychiatry 197 (1): 79. {{doi|10.1192/bjp.bp.109.073692}}.Marraffa, Massimo (2012). "Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives". Philosophical Psychology 25 (4): 617–21. {{doi|10.1080/09515089.2011.633694}}. and was listed as one 2009's "books of the year" in The Guardian, with Mary Warnock saying that "[d]espite its title, it's a gripping read".{{Cite news|title=Books of the year: what kept you turning the pages?|publisher=Theguardian.com|date=22 November 2009|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/22/books-of-the-year-2009|access-date=16 August 2016}}

Bortolotti's third book in 2009 was Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs, a monograph exploring delusions and requirements for the ascription of beliefs.Bortolotti, Lisa (2009). Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The book was highly successful, being awarded the American Philosophical Association's 2011 book prize. Granted in recognition of the "best ... book published by a younger scholar in the previous two years", the prize is awarded every two years and carries with it a US$4000 award.{{cite web|url=http://www.apaonline.org/?book|title=Book Prize|publisher=American Philosophical Association|access-date=17 August 2016}} The book was reviewed in a number of publications,Radden, Jennifer (20 July 2010). "[https://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=5655&cn=394 Review – Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs]". Metapsychology Online Reviews 14 (29).Langland-Hassan, Peter (2010). "Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs". Psychological Medicine 40 (12): 2101–03. {{doi|10.1017/S0033291710001492}}.Malatesti, Luca (2011). "Delusions and other Irrational Beliefs – By Lisa Bortolotti". Journal of Applied Philosophy 28 (1): 93–6. {{doi|10.1111/j.1468-5930.2010.00509.x}}.Oyebode, Femi (2011). "Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs". The British Journal of Psychiatry 198 (5): 412–3. {{doi|10.1192/bjp.bp.110.080143}}.Sirgiovanni, Elisabetta (2012). "[http://www.humanamente.eu/PDF/Issue20_BookReview_Sirgiovanni.pdf Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs by Lisa Bortolotti]". Humana.Mente 20: 293–7. and was the subject of a special issue in the journal Neuroethics. The issue, edited by Neil Levy, contained five articles engaging with the book. These were by: Jakob Hohwy and Vivek Rajan;Hohwy, Jakob, and Vivek Rajan (2012). "Delusions as Forensically Disturbing Perceptual Inferences". Neuroethics 5 (1): 5–11. {{doi|10.1007/s12152-011-9124-6}}. Eric Schwitzgebel;Schwitzgebel, Eric (2012). "Mad Belief?" Neuroethics 5 (1): 13–17. {{doi|10.1007/s12152-011-9127-3}}. Dominic Murphy;Murphy, Dominick (2012). "The Folk Epistomology of Delusions". Neuroethics 5 (1): 19–22. {{doi|10.1007/s12152-011-9125-5}}. Keith Frankish;Frankish, Keith (2012). "Delusions, Levels of Belief, and Non-doxastic Acceptances". Neuroethics 5 (1): 23–7. {{doi|10.1007/s12152-011-9123-7}}. and Maura Tumulty.Tumulty, Maura (2012). "Delusions and Not-Quite-Beliefs". Neuroethics 5 (1): 29–37. {{doi|10.1007/s12152-011-9126-4}}. In addition, Bortolotti contributed a précis of the bookBortolotti, Lisa (2012). "Précis of Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs". Neuroethics 5 (1): 1–4. {{doi|10.1007/s12152-011-9128-2}}. and an article in defence of some of her claims.Bortolotti, Lisa (2012). "In Defence of Modest Doxasticism About Delusions". Neuroethics 5 (1): 39–53. {{doi|10.1007/s12152-011-9122-8}}.

In 2011, she became a reader at Birmingham, and then, in 2013, a professor. In 2014, she published IrrationalityBortolotti, Lisa (2014). Irrationality. Cambridge: Polity. as part of Polity's Key Concepts in Philosophy series,Tattersall, Mason (4 April 2015). "[https://metapsychology.net/index.php/book-review/irrationality/ Review – Irrationality]". Metapsychology Online Reviews 19 (32).Lych, Kevin (2015) "Irrationality". International Journal of Philosophical Studies 23 (4): 605–09. {{doi|10.1080/09672559.2015.1077585}}/ and was the editor of 2018's Delusions in Context, an open access collection published by Palgrave Macmillan.Bortolotti, Lisa, ed. (2018). Delusions in Context. Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. In 2020, she published The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs{{Cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-epistemic-innocence-of-irrational-beliefs-9780198863984?cc=gb&lang=en&|isbn=978-0-19-886398-4|title=The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs|date=30 June 2020|publisher=Oxford University Press}} with Oxford University Press,{{cite journal|author=Joakim, Sahar|year=2020|url=https://metapsychology.net/index.php/book-review/the-epistemic-innocence-of-irrational-beliefs/|title=The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs|journal=Metapsychology Online Reviews|volume=24|issue=38}}{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s10677-021-10203-6|author=Astola, Mandi|year=2021|title=Lisa Bortolotti, The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs, 2020|journal=Ethical Theory and Moral Practice|volume=24|issue=3 |pages=879–881}}{{Cite journal|author=Aftab, Awais|year=2022|title=Irrationality and Its Discontents|journal=Journal of Constructivist Psychology|volume=35|issue=3|pages=1111–6|doi=10.1080/10720537.2021.1872457}}{{cite journal|author=Williams, Daniel|year=2023|title= The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs, by Lisa Bortolotti|journal=Mind|volume=132|issue=526|pages=549–58|doi=10.1093/mind/fzab037}} and in 2023 she published Why Delusions Matter with Bloomsbury Academic.{{Cite web |last=bloomsbury.com |title=Why Delusions Matter |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/why-delusions-matter-9781350163324/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241204094249/https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/why-delusions-matter-9781350163324/ |archive-date=2024-12-04 |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=Bloomsbury |language=en}} Her open access edited collection Epistemic Justice in Mental Healthcare was published in 2024.{{cite web | url=https://link.springer.com/book/9783031688805 | title=Epistemic Justice in Mental Healthcare }}

Research

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| audio1 = "[http://rajpersaud.libsyn.com/raj-persaud-in-conversation-with-lisa-bortolotti-are-delusions-that-irrational Are delusions that irrational?]"
Podcast featuring Bortolotti discussing Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs with Rajendra Persaud

| audio2 = "[http://philosophybites.com/2015/03/lisa-bortolotti-on-irrationality.html Lisa Bortolotti on Irrationality]"
Bortolotti speaking on the Philosophy Bites podcast.

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In Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs, Bortolotti challenges the idea that delusions are not beliefs given that they are irrational. While held to be beliefs in the medical literature, the status of delusions is disputed by philosophers, who have denied that delusions are beliefs on account of their deeply unusual content—such as the delusion that one is actually dead—and because they work differently from paradigmatic beliefs. For example, delusions are often maintained despite overwhelming counter-evidence, or are not reacted to in the way one would expect given their content.

After setting out the background to the question, Bortolotti explores whether the procedural irrationality of delusions—the fact that they do not rationally relate to the other intentional states of the agent—justifies the denial that they are beliefs. She denies that it does, given that many paradigm beliefs display failures of procedural rationality. She then moves on to the epistemic irrationality of delusions, i.e., the fact that they are not supported by evidence. This can also not be used to challenge the status of delusions as beliefs, she argues, as many widespread ordinary beliefs are also epistemically irrational. She next addresses the idea that delusions are not beliefs as, first, they are not acted upon in the appropriate way, and, second, people with delusions cannot provide good reasons for their holding the content of the delusion. Though allowing that these characterisations of people with delusions can be correct, she argues that these failures of so-called agential rationality can also be found in people who do not have delusions. Bortolotti holds that the status of thoughts which subjects do not endorse (such as inserted thoughts) as beliefs is in question, but that beliefs that are both endorsed and self-ascribed contribute to one's conception of self as part of a self-narrative.

She concludes her book by rejecting the rationality constraint on belief ascription. She challenges the idealisation of beliefs, but endorses the goal of separating beliefs and other intentional states. She argues that the difference between delusional and normal beliefs must concern more than their epistemic features. The difference between delusions and irrational (but non-delusional) beliefs is, she claims, one of degree, and not one of kind.

Select bibliography

In addition to her books, Bortolotti has published over 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals and over 20 chapters in edited collections.{{cite web|author=Bortolotti, Lisa|url=https://sites.google.com/site/lisabortolottiphilosophy/papers|title=Papers|access-date=17 August 2016}} She is a series editor for Oxford's International Perspectives in Philosophy & Psychiatry series and on the editorial board of Bloomsbury's Science, Ethics & Innovation series. She has served on the editorial board of a number of journals, as well as acting as the review editor for Frontiers in Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, associate editor for Ethical Theory and Moral Practice and e-letter's editor for the Journal of Medical Ethics. She has guest-edited or co-guest-edited several journal special issues, including issues of the European Journal of Analytic Philosophy,Bortolotti, Lisa and Luca Malatesti (2010). "[https://www.ffri.hr/phil/casopis/content/volume_6/2010_6_1_Introduction.pdf Conceptual challenges in the characterisation and explanation of psychiatric phenomena]". European Journal of Analytic Philosophy. 6 (1): 5–10. the Journal of Consciousness Studies,Bortolotti, Lisa, and Andrew Wright (2011). "Introduction". Journal of Consciousness Studies 18 (9–10): 6–18. and Consciousness and Cognition.Bortolotti, Lisa, and Ema Sullivan-Bissett (2015). "Introduction: Costs and Benefits of Imperfect Cognitions". Consciousness and Cognition 33: 487–9. {{doi|10.1016/j.concog.2015.03.013}}. {{open access}}

=Books=

Bortolotti, Lisa (2008). An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science. Cambridge: Polity. (Also available in Portuguese.)
Bortolotti, Lisa (2009). Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bortolotti, Lisa (2014). Irrationality. Cambridge: Polity.
Bortolotti, Lisa (2020). The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs. Oxford: Oxford University Press.{{Cite news |title=The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs |publisher=The Brains Blog |date=12 October 2020 |url=https://philosophyofbrains.com/2020/10/12/epistemic-innocence-lisa-bortolotti.aspx |access-date=12 October 2020}}
Bortolotti, Lisa (2023). Why Delusions Matter. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

=Edited collections=

Botolotti, Lisa, ed. (2009). Philosophy and Happiness. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Broome, Matthew R., and Lisa Bortolotti (2009). Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bortolotti, Lisa, ed. (2018). Delusions in Context. Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bortolotti, Lisa, ed. (2024). Epistemic Justice in Mental Healthcare: Recognising Agency and Promoting Virtues Across the Life Span. Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.