Philosophy of psychology
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Philosophy of psychology is concerned with the history and foundations of psychology. It deals with both epistemological and ontological issues and shares interests with other fields, including philosophy of mind and theoretical psychology. Philosophical and theoretical psychology are intimately tied and are therefore sometimes used interchangeably or used together. However, philosophy of psychology relies more on debates general to philosophy and on philosophical methods, whereas theoretical psychology draws on multiple areas. [1]
Epistemology
Some of the issues studied by the philosophy of psychology are
- What constitutes a psychological explanation?
- What is the most appropriate methodology for psychology: mentalism, behaviorism, or a compromise?
- Are self-reports a reliable data-gathering[2] method?
- What conclusions can be drawn from null hypothesis tests?
- Can first-person experiences (emotions, desires, beliefs, etc.) be measured objectively?
Ontology
Philosophers of psychology also concern themselves with ontological issues, like:
- Can psychology be theoretically reduced to neuroscience?
- What are psychological phenomena?
- What is the relationship between subjectivity and objectivity in psychology?
Relations to other fields
Philosophy of psychology also closely monitors contemporary work conducted in
Related to the philosophy of psychology are philosophical and epistemological inquiries about
Main areas
Different schools and systems of psychology represent approaches to psychological problems, which are often based on different philosophies of consciousness.
Functional psychology Functionalism treats the psyche as derived from the activity of external stimuli, deprived of its essential autonomy, denying free will, which influenced behaviourism later on;[7] one of the founders of functionalism was James, also close to pragmatism, where human action is put before questions and doubts about the nature of the world and man himself.
Psychoanalysis Freud`s doctrine, called Metapsychology, was to give the human self greater freedom from instinctive and irrational desires in a dialogue with a psychologist through analysis of the unconscious.[8] Later the psychoanalytic movement split, part of it treating psychoanalysis as a practice of working with archetypes (analytical psychology), part criticising the social limitations of the unconscious (Freudo-Marxism), and later Lacan`s structural psychoanalysis, which interpreted the unconscious as a language.
Structuralism The recognised creator of psychology as a science, W. Wundt described the primordial structures of the psyche that determine perception and behaviour, but faced the problem of the impossibility of direct access to these structures and the vagueness of their description.[10] Half a century later his ideas, combined with Sossur`s semiotics, strongly influenced the general humanities of structuralism and the post-structuralism and post-modernism that emerged from it, where structures were treated as linguistic invariants.
References
- ISBN 978-1-137-59650-5.
- ^ R. Stewart Ellis (2010). "Research data gathering techniques". Kettering University.
- S2CID 4485292.
- S2CID 67796566.
- ^ Fulford KWM, Stanghellini G. (2008). "The Third Revolution: Philosophy into Practice in Twenty-first Century Psychiatry". Dialogues in Philosophy, Mental and Neuro Sciences. 1 (1): 5–14.
- ^ Aragona M (2009). Il mito dei fatti. Una introduzione alla Filosofia della Psicopatologia. Crossing Dialogues. Archived from the original on 2012-03-06.
- ^ "Behaviorism". plato.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
- ^ "Philosophy of Psychology". umock.com. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
- ^ "Edmund Husserl". plato.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
- ^ "Wilhelm Wundt". simplypsychology.org. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
Further reading
- J. Stacy Adams. 1976. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Academic Press, 1976 ISBN 0120152096, 9780120152094.
- Leonard Berkowitz. 1972. Social psychology. Scott Foresman & Co, 1972.
- Ned Block. 1980. Readings in Philosophy of Psychology, Volume 1. Harvard University Press, 1980. ISBN 067474876X, 9780674748767.
- Stuart C. Brown, Royal Institute of Philosophy. 1974. Macmillan, 1974. Original from the University of Michigan
- ISBN 0136643264, 9780136643265.
- Ken Richardson. 2008. Understanding psychology. Open University Press, 1988. ISBN 0335098428, 9780335098422.
- George Botterill, ISBN 0521559154, 9780521559157.
- Craig Steven Titus. 2009. Philosophical Psychology: Psychology, Emotions, and Freedom. CUA Press. ISBN 0977310361, 9780977310364.
- Jose Bermudez. 2005. Philosophy of Psychology: A Contemporary Introduction. Routledge. ISBN 9780415368629.
- ISBN 0262082489, 9780262082488