Background: The current debate on the continuity or discontinuity of psychotic symptoms and common psychic experiences has mainly dealt with methodological, epidemiological and clinical issues, but it has neglected epistemological research on the main concepts of the field. Methods: The implicit epistemic structure of continuity models of psychotic symptoms and its effect on research are addressed. Results: We explain how the seemingly commonsense, unproblematic concept of psychic function may explain the contradictions and paradoxes of research. Conclusions: A new model of symptom individuation and symptom eliciting is proposed - based on the concepts of ‘schemas', ‘embodied affordances' and ‘thick/thin descriptions'.

Keywords:
Continuity studies, Delusions, Epistemology hallucinations, Psychic function psychopathology, Psychotic symptoms, Subjectivity
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