Intentional Arc Disorder: A New Phenomenological Interpretation of Schizophrenia

In recent years, scholars such as Louis A. Sass have criticized self-disorder model and, drawing on Sartre’s concept of transparency, explored an alternative phenomenological explanatory model for schizophrenia—transparency disorder model. This paper argues that transparency disorder model faces several challenges: 1) Like the concept of minimal self, the concept of transparency is an essentialist concept and cannot account for the dynamic pathogenic process of schizophrenia; 2) The concept of transparency is unrelated to the operation of pre-reflective immersion. This paper proposes intentional arc disorder model as an alternative to transparency disorder model, positing that the core symptom of schizophrenia is the disruption of intentional arc by hyper-reflexivity. This paper argues that intentional arc disorder is mainly reflected in two aspects of symptoms: 1) Disturbance of conscious content; and 2) Disturbance of conscious form. Disturbance of conscious content primarily involves disintegration and reconstruction of the holistic meaning of the present, disruption of potential behaviors, and diminished self-presence. Disturbance of conscious form mainly involves objectification of perceptual experience leading to an increased self-presence, and objectification of embodied experience resulting in alienation of the lived body.