Are people with schizophrenia more logical than healthy volunteers?

Abstract

Summary We tested a phenomenological hypothesis about theoretical and practical rationality in people with schizophrenia. This hypothesis states that in schizophrenia there is an enhancement of theoretical rationality Our case–control experiment supported this hypothesis. Philosophical models of rationality that prioritise theoretical over practical rationality may thereby apply more in schizophrenic than in healthy states. The study is an example of how experimental psychopathology can illuminate areas of philosophical dispute that are difficult to settle by thought alone.