DO YOU HAVE A HEALTHY MIND? The philosophy of mental health

DO YOU HAVE A HEALTHY MIND? The philosophy of mental health

Professor Simon Keller, Victoria University of Wellington

Mental health is an increasingly prominent consideration in society but what is a healthy mind? To put it another way: what should you strive for, exactly, when you set out to cultivate or protect your mental health? Some think of mental health as equivalent to happiness or wellbeing. Others identify it as good mental functioning or as rationality, or normality or conformity. Simon will argue that mental health is not a medical or scientific concept, but rather an ethical concept, inextricable from views about how a human ought to live.

Simon Keller has published extensively on the ethics and politics of relationships, writing on such topics as filial duty, the demands of friendship, and the morality of patriotism. Before moving to New Zealand he held positions at Boston University and Melbourne University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi

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