January 2025

Percepts and concepts

The way we understand dissociative experiences is shaped by the interplay between percepts (raw experiences) and concepts (interpretive frameworks). DID is not the experience itself but a concept that organizes dissociative percepts within a cultural framework. Once adopted, concepts like DID shape how individuals perceive and recall their experiences, reinforcing a feedback loop. Drawing on ideas from William James and Ian Hacking, I explore how the diagnostic label of DID not only describes experiences but actively shapes them. Recognizing this allows for a more flexible, open-ended approach to dissociation beyond a singular framework.

conceptualization DID Hacking James philosophy

5 minutes