The article advances a new way of thinking about classifications in general and the classification of mental disorders in particular. By applying insights from measurement practice to the context of classification, I defend a notion of epistemic accuracy that allows one to evaluate and improve classifications by comparing different classifying methods to each other. Progress in classification arises from the mutual development of classification systems and classifying methods. Based on this notion of accuracy, the article illustrates with an example how psychiatric classifications can be improved via circumscribed comparisons of different perspectives on mental disorders, without relying on complete models of their complex aetiology. When applying this strategy, the traditional opposition between symptom-based and causal approaches is of little consequence for making progress in the epistemic accuracy of psychiatric classification.

这篇文章提出了一种关于一般分类特别是精神障碍分类的新思维方式。通过将测量实践中的见解应用于分类上下文，我捍卫了认知准确性的概念，该概念允许人们通过比较不同的分类方法来评估和改进分类。分类的进步源于分类体系和分类方法的相互发展。基于这种准确性的概念，本文举例说明了如何通过对精神障碍的不同观点进行有限比较来改进精神科分类，而不依赖于其复杂病因的完整模型。在应用这个策略时，