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The Critique of Psychology
Library of the History of
Psychological Theories Series Editor: Robert W. Rieber, City University of New York, New York, NY
THE CRITIQUE OF PSYCHOLOGY From Kant to Postcolonial Theory Thomas Teo PERCEPTION AND ILLUSION Historical Perspectives Nicholas J. Wade
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The Critique of Psychology From Kant to Postcolonial Theory Thomas Teo York University Toronto, Canada
Library of Congress Control Number: 2005923747 ISBN-10: 0-387-25355-6 ISBN-13: 978-0-387-25355-8
e-ISBN 0-387-25356-4
Printed on acid-free paper.
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What is founded on nature grows and increases, while what is founded on opinion varies. FRANCIS BACON (1561–1626) But is psychology founded on nature?
Preface and Acknowledgments What contributes to the development of the discipline of psychology? Traditional answers suggest that it is new empirical evidence. However, a closer look at the history of psychology over the last two hundred years indicates that the accumulation of facts, problem solutions, induction, and the explanation of anomalies play only supporting roles. Indeed, studies on the social, political, and economic factors that have shaped the discipline have contributed significantly to an understanding of the theoretical and practical dynamics of psychology. With the shift to externalist explanations, problem-oriented historical and theoretical analyses have fallen out of grace. However, if one agrees with Gould’s (1996) statement that “science moves forward as much by critiquing the conclusions of others as by making novel discoveries” (p. 25), then an analysis of the history of the critique of psychology becomes central. Thus, the focus in this book is not on socio-historical contexts, but on arguments, more specifically, critical arguments, regarding the problems of mainstream psychology at different stages of its development—a critique that has been combined often, but not always, with a vision for a better psychology and the promise to solve the theoretical, methodological, and practical problems of the discipline. Such a program requires emphasizing the logic, structure, and flow of rhetoric, which takes on an important function in psychology’s history and contributes to an understanding of the modifications of the mainstream but also the margins. A focus on arguments does not mean that socio-historical traditions are not important. On the contrary, external dimensions are significant for recognizing changes, but they are not the center of attention in the following reconstructions. Enough material has been accumulated that allows for a history of the critique of psychology since the second half of the 18th century. Thus, the idea that the critique of psychology is a