"Logical Condensation": A Proposal to Handle Ambiguity in Contextural Analysis Using the Example of a Schizophrenic Patient in Forensic Psychiatry

Abstract

Ambiguity and indexicality of utterances are key challenges in qualitative research. In this article we propose "logical condensation" as a novel approach to this challenge. Logical condensation reduces a text to its propositional structure. This technique is based upon ideas of WITTGENSTEIN (2003 [1922]) and aims at getting to the (onto-)logical core of a text. As each text always is ambiguous, this attempt will undoubtedly fail. Consequently, we can learn from the fractures within the logical structure of a text about the different layers of meaning involved. Therefore, logical condensation can be the key to a polycontextural understanding of texts and the basis for a thorough contextual analysis.  We demonstrate this using the example of a schizophrenic patient in forensic psychiatry.