ADHD: A philosophical study on “existence”

Abstract

The debate in the source of this article came up in a public controversy about the reality of a specific psychiatrical nosological entity titled Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and recently incorporated in the more important classification manuals of mental disorders. Though we refer to this dispute—with the aid of a case study—our real project in this article is to investigate the concept of “existence” under the perspective of the philosophical analysis of language. As we see it, this debate disguises an old and complex philosophical issue.