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9781137552846

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“With this book, Shelby (philosophy, Univ. of Colorado, Denver) challenges existing major perspectives on addiction and argues that current approaches to understanding it and determining treatment for it are inadequate. … Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, professionals.” (G. A. Blevins, Choice, Vol. 54 (4), December, 2016)

By Joseph Ulatowski, Uni of Texas at El Paso The aim of Professor Shelby's book is to argue for a process-oriented approach to addiction by not focusing upon reductive explanations so typical of our 'best' neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. The explanation, by Professor Shelby's own lights, is far more complex than proponents on either side of the debate have discussed in print. If we approach addiction in a more inclusive key, then we may be more likely to understand, and possibly more likely to eradicate, addiction from the psycho-social landscape. This is a bold thesis Professor Shelby proposes to defend, and it is one I would like to see argued for. Too few works, particularly in philosophy, have become satisfied with innocuous, conservative conclusions, yet have proclaimed them to be bold and original. Perhaps the most appealing feature of Professor Shelby's analysis is her consideration of how others have reacted to addiction and addicts. As Shelby points out, people tend to treat addictions as morally reprehensible behaviors, on par with larceny or arson. This approach yields formidable barriers for addicts; instead of treating addicts sympathetically, the analysis allows people to hold people blameworthy for addictive behavior. From a slightly different angle, one might not judge a person morally blameworthy for some behavior if it turns out the person could not have acted differently. Professor Shelby might have overlooked some conclusions about the popular conception of addiction, which can be revealed through empirical testing. Hypothetically, ordinary people might be subject to a framing effect, perhaps even implicit bias, when it comes to addiction. Testing ordinary people about their views might be an avenue to pursue. Despite this critical remark, it should be clear that I believe Professor Shelby's contribution is fresh and original, as well as timely and engaging. Her book will likely draw philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists, but, depending upon how demanding the writing style is, the book could attract readers in the general population with an interest in, or who are suffering from, an addiction. Marketing the book to scholars in philosophy and psychology should be relatively easy if, as planned, Professor Shelby's monograph is published in late 2015 or early 2016. Several reputable publishing houses have published or will be publishing soon works addressing addiction, or in a closely related area. For example, besides the books Professor Shelby mentions, see Henrietta Robin Barnes' Hijacked Brains: The Experience and Science of Chronic Addiction (Dartmouth Press 2015), Jerome Miller and Nicholas Plants' (eds.) Sobering Wisdom: Philosophical Explorations of Twelve Step Spirituality (Univ of Virginia Press 2014), and Lubomira Radoilska's Addiction and Weakness of Will (Oxford UP 2014). My critical comment offered in this brief proposal review is meant to be constructive, bolstering Professor Shelby's already very interesting project rather than condemning it. The proposed book is well-structured and exhibits good transitions between the content of each chapter. Without hesitation, I enthusiastically recommend that Palgrave Macmillan offer Professor Shelby a contract and publish Addiction: An Irreducible Reality. Should Professor Shelby see fit to share with me a draft of her book, I would be happy to provide more extensive feedback.

Author Information

Candice Shelby is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado at Denver, USA. She has published in the history of philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and addiction, and has spoken at international venues on a variety of topics related to addiction. She is a popular lecturer in the national addictions recovery community.

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