Theoretical psychology

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The Theoretical psychology aims developed individual in the various fields of psychology theories combine in a higher-level perspective, possibly to a meta-theory of psychology to unify while metawissenschaftlich to analyze the existing problems and controversies. In addition, theoretical psychology can mean, in the most general way, the abstract theoretical principles in contrast to the empirical and practical of applied psychology .

history

Gustav Theodor Fechner and Wilhelm Wundt , the influential founders of psychophysics and experimental psychology , grappled with traditional philosophical and speculative psychology and discussed the possibilities and limits of an empirical, experimental and measuring psychology ( Carl Gustav Carus , 1808 ; Friedrich Albert Lange , 1866; Ludwig, J. Pongratz, 1967; Eckart Scheerer, 1995; Wolfgang Schönpflug, 2013; Harald Walach, 2013). However, Wundt and the psychologists of his time did not yet use the terms theoretical psychology and philosophy of science (Fahrenberg, 2015). In particular, Wundt developed a comprehensive and scientifically demanding basis of psychology, its possibilities of knowledge and questions, principles and methods. This definition of psychology as a new discipline in the scientific landscape around 1900 included the definition of psychology, its delimitation from philosophy and physiology ( neurophysiology ), an independent methodology and the first discussion of basic research and applied psychology. While Wundt considered the connection between psychology and philosophy to be indispensable, because in the event of a separation only each psychologist would develop his or her own metaphysics, others demanded institutional and professional independence. In contrast to Wundt's perspective view, which epistemologically is similar to the principle of complementarity , many of the prominent psychologists either followed a scientifically oriented understanding of science or the idea of ​​an understanding psychology .

For the emerging theoretical psychology and psychology as an academic discipline, differentiations were important:

In these beginnings, important tasks of theoretical psychology can already be recognized: the definition of psychology with the consequences for the questions and the methodology; the connection or separation of psychology and philosophy ; the study of the various directions and controversies in psychology; the criteria of science .

As early as the turn of the century, 1900, there were various main directions in empirical psychology and debates about the philosophical prerequisites, about the appropriate definition, and about the appropriate methodology of psychology. Many of these controversies persist (Fahrenberg 2015; Scheerer 1995; Schönpflug 2013; Walach 2013). On the one hand there was the term psychology without a soul and on the other hand the insistence on psychology as "soul science". Christian-oriented psychologists sharply criticized the fact that some of the experimental psychologists deny the soul. There was corresponding criticism of Sigmund Freud . Today many psychologists, including those who are ideologically bound, will refer these basic questions about the soul and the destiny of man to philosophical anthropology , metaphysics or religion .

Definition problem of psychology

Psychology stands in the border area of ​​several disciplines: philosophy , humanities , social sciences , cultural studies , biology , physiology , medicine . According to its program, it is even at the center of the human sciences , because even more than other disciplines it is designed to grasp the connections between the different perspectives and to take them into account in research and professional practice. The fundamental difficulties of any theoretical psychology become apparent when attempting to define psychology as an independent discipline.

In similar lists, consciousness is often mentioned instead of experience , and a distinction is made between reactive behavior and intentional actions ; possibly the basics of biological psychology ( neurosciences , psychophysiology ) will be pointed out. The original definition of the content of psychology as the doctrine of the human soul is no longer mentioned, nor are the subsequent terms psychic, spirit , mental, which are similarly burdened by their ambiguity . Textbooks and lexicons regularly leave similar lists instead of an explicit definition of psychology by specifying the generic term and the specifying features, for example: "Psychology is a human science that ..."

The main stream of psychology in Germany is determined by the professional associations DGPs and BDP as well as the examination regulations of the universities. There were splits - as in the New Society for Psychology (see also Klaus Holzkamp's Critical Psychology and Subject Science ) - and problematic attempts to integrate psychoanalysis and depth psychology . Seen from the outside, the problem of definition is a diagnostic tool for the pluralism of theories and methods as well as the profound contrasts. If there is a lack of a widely accepted definition of psychology, the reasons for this state of affairs are also core issues of theoretical psychology . - The epistemological conceptions are also very heterogeneous. Wouldn't a metatheory of the various theories of science in psychology be a necessary first step on the way to a metatheory?

Beginnings of Theoretical Psychology

The Theoretical psychology of John Lindworsky (1922/1926), a Jesuit and professor of psychology, is the first German-language book with this title. In the introduction, Lindworsky describes experimental psychology as an auxiliary science of philosophy and distinguishes it from philosophy, in particular from the question of the soul and its characteristic properties.

“... just as theoretical physics joins experimental physics, experimental psychology now wants to join theoretical psychology. Like them, she wants to offer a vision from a higher point of view; wants to summarize details; wants to arrive at superordinate laws and finally to a coherent picture of all psychic facts and laws. The necessity and the benefit that a theoretical psychology promises are emphasized: 'Classification of the countless empirically found individual facts into a relatively small number of basic facts in a manageable system, tracing back to basic facts, derivations and suggestions, through which in turn the correctness of the theoretical view is checked. ... Just as experimental psychology does not care about the ultimate conditions of the phenomena of consciousness, but leaves this complex of questions to philosophical psychology, just as little does theoretical psychology deal with questions that can no longer be solved by means of empiricism and its direct evaluation. So, to name a few, the body-soul problem, the question of the substantiality, spirituality and immortality of the soul, is eliminated. Thus the observed phenomena of consciousness and their more or less directly inferable connections remain as the common object of experimental and theoretical psychology. ' “However, such prerequisites are usually brought along not from psychological work, but from the otherwise represented basic philosophical views. Here is the point at which the inward detachment of empirical psychology from philosophy would have to begin much more consciously than it has hitherto been done. If psychology is really first of all factual research; if, like physics from natural philosophy, factual psychology is to separate itself from philosophical, the theoretical psychologist must stand far from any philosophical presupposition; he has to start his work as a philosophical layman. ""

The well-known experimental psychologist Richard Pauli also demanded in his drafts for a theoretical psychology that he developed after 1930 that it should be developed analogously to theoretical physics (Holzapfel, 1995).

“The task of such a theoretical psychology would be the systematic processing of the various psychological individual theories and the explanatory principles contained therein in such a way that the questions about the connections and possible derivation form the actual goal. (...) A time must come for psychology too, in which one is no longer content with arranging a vast number of individual results in a beautiful mosaic-like manner without worrying about the inner connections. "

After a profound turn of his interests from experimental psychology to philosophy and religion, Pauli emphasized the body-soul problem , the immortality of the soul and the existence of God as basic questions , and discussed the extent to which scientific findings indicate the validity of various hypotheses, at least on "possibilities “Could give.

Psychology crisis

In the founding phase of psychology as a discipline, there were arguments about the philosophical, in particular the epistemological prerequisites, and as early as 1899 Richard Willy claimed a crisis in psychology because of the incompatible positions . Can scientific-experimental research be the authoritative model of psychology in order to gain general psychological laws or should psychology orient itself towards the humanities and social sciences and strive to understand mental processes and processes? Understanding or explaining has become a very widespread formula since Wilhelm Dilthey , but it has been criticized as being misleading, see also dispute over methods (social sciences) . Franz Brentano, with his psychology derived exclusively from inner perception ( introspection , phenognosy), Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis and the socially critical currents of psychology were also influential .

Controversy

Outlasting opposites exist in ontological , epistemological , scientific theory and philosophical anthropological basic issues as well as in the Method ( methodology ). Examples are:

Meta-scientific approaches

The metatheoretical studies of the Danish psychologist KB Madsen stand out from the discussions on theoretical psychology because he carried out a relatively broad and systematic analysis of psychological theories. He began with the formalization ( axiomatization ) of theories of motivation and personality and expanded this metatheoretical approach: A history of psychology in metascientific perspective (Madsen 1988). Madsen designed a frame of reference with three levels (data level, theory level, philosophical or meta level) and a system of defining features (Systematogical Taxonomy) to identify and compare the individual theories.

The work of Norbert Groeben (1986) is distinguished by its broad horizon among the more recent epistemological efforts to develop a metatheory of psychology . Based on Wilhelm Dilthey's distinction between explaining and understanding , Groeben presented an extensive epistemological overview and draft program for the integration of hermeneutics and empiricism : action, action, behavior as units of an understanding-explanatory psychology . The subsequent volumes on the programmatic of a social scientific psychology (Groeben, 1997–2003) contain a systematic presentation of metatheoretical perspectives: object understanding , conception of man , methodology and ethics , theory history, practical relevance, interdisciplinarity , method integration.

Hans Westmeyer sees the structuralist conception of science as a general and neutral analytical procedure that is required for a natural science such as biology or physics and must be used in an interdisciplinary research program on theoretical psychology. The set of instruments is suitable for building up theoretical psychology as an independent sub-discipline with exact methodology and binding results.How the structuralist reconstruction of a psychological theory can be done through definitions, formalizations, concise reconstruction of the theory (fundamental law, theoretical elements, intended applications) is an anthology such work The structuralist program in psychology: Foundations and applications (edited by Westmeyer, 1992). The examples come mainly from cognitive psychology , but are supplemented by attempts at reconstruction in emotion research, personality research, attribution research, and even Freud's neurosis theory.

In a fundamentally different approach, the integration of psychological theories from different subject areas is sought under a fundamental guiding principle. For Wundt, the developmental theory of the human mind was the central topic on which fundamental work from all research areas converge. He developed a philosophically and methodologically ordered, "coordinated" view - in a sovereign way of dealing with the categorically fundamentally different ways of looking at what belongs together. The most important theoretical basis is the empirical-psychological theory of apperception , based on Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's philosophical position , which Wundt underpinned on the one hand experimentally psychologically and through his neuropsychological modeling , and on the other hand advanced to a process theory of cultural development. Even in the founding phase of university psychology, he was on a scientifically theoretical and methodologically demanding level. His perspective psychology, in which the different ways of looking at the psychophysical unity and the spiritual and cultural development of the human being, complement one another, is only possible on a demanding level of meta-scientific reflection.

In the USA, Sigmund Koch advocated the development of theoretical psychology and said that an aversion to theoretical psychology can be overcome by training in the theory of science . There were numerous individual contributions, mainly due to the more recent American literature, and only rarely with a brief review of the forerunners and the controversial history of ideas in psychology.

Specialist groups and journals in theoretical psychology

The Theoretical Psychology Section (previously APA Division for Theory and Philosophy of Psychology) was established by the American Psychological Association ; scientific societies are The Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology and The International Society for Theoretical Psychology (ISTP ). There is no corresponding specialist group in Germany, but there are professorships with this designation at some psychological institutes. Journals are: Annals of Theoretical Psychology , The Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, and Theory & Psychology.

Philosophy of Psychology, Philosophical Psychology

Philosophical prerequisites of empirical psychology form the content of the philosophy of psychology (philosophical psychology). Limiting the connections between psychology and philosophy to epistemology and ethics does not do justice to the diverse conceptual contexts. Typical controversies in which psychologists continue to participate, such as the brain-consciousness problem and free will, or categories such as causal explanation , subject and person , or discussions about emergentism and reductionism , also refer to ontology . The philosophical anthropology deals with the assumptions about the people as some in the human images of personality theories appear or different directions of psychotherapy. Such conditions can be hypothetical and heuristic, others have the status of absolute conditions. It is a matter of fundamental insights, as compelling postulates , basic assumptions that cannot be refuted empirically. They can be described psychologically as beliefs or systems of belief that are characterized by a high degree of certainty and perseverance. Philosophically and logically, it is a matter of presuppositions of the judgments . Certain points of view of epistemology and philosophy of science can have consequences for the selection of research topics and hypotheses and influence the decisions regarding the methodology considered suitable (adequate). To what extent the special philosophical prerequisites or the personal image of man of the psychologists actually have an influence on psychological research and practice has not yet been systematically examined.

outlook

Will there be a “renaissance of theoretical psychology”? Eckard Scheerer wrote:

“Like every other innovation, the detachment of psychology from philosophy has resulted in a subsequent burden: the restriction of psychology to a“ purely empirical ”science and the associated rejection of the idea of ​​theoretical psychology; this is very much in contrast to physics, which is constantly used as a model for a "mature" science, in which the distinction between experimental physics and theoretical physics is a matter of course. At present, however, it is becoming apparent that the ban on theoretical psychology is being withdrawn. Their subject matter and their task have not yet been determined in a generally binding manner. After all, everyone agrees that Theoretical Psychology. is the meta-scientific exploration of psychological theories and theoretical problems ; it would therefore be a part of the meta-science applied to psychology. ... Empirical psychology may, without realizing it, contain non-empirical elements. ... The task requires the introduction of a level of abstraction for the formulation and justification of theories that corresponds to theoretical physics, but does not conflict with empirical evidence; an example of this would be psychoanalytic meta-psychology. In all of these areas, perspectives are opening up for future collaboration between psychology and philosophy. "

Apart from the fundamental doubts as to whether theoretical physics and physical reductionism can be the model of psychology in epistemological and epistemological terms, it is precisely the hope for a unified theory of physics, a great theory of everything , in view of the incompatibilities of quantum theory and the theory of gravity and multiverse to be disappointed until further notice.

As a metatheory, theoretical psychology would provide a frame of reference (superstructure) in which the different directions of psychology and the main theories of the sub-areas are represented and summarized as consistently as possible, or at least find a temporary place to be gradually harmonized and merged. Even if empirical psychology has many special directions, standardization is desirable. If a superordinate theoretical psychology could be designed, a deeper understanding of the relationships with new perspectives and heuristics could be expected.

Remain:

  • the central idea of ​​a large unified theory (metatheory) in which the area theories, the individual theorems and theoretical sentences are combined, conceptually and structurally unified and presented as a synthesis;
  • the meta-scientific systematisation when comparing a larger set of psychological theories on the basis of important characteristics;
  • the structuralist program, in which a higher degree of formalization is to be achieved through the reconstruction of selected theories or small groups of theories;
  • the investigation of epistemological and epistemological, ontological and anthropological controversies that oppose the conception of a unified theoretical psychology;
  • The other tasks of Theoretical Psychology, which result from the sociological and scientific psychological questions about the general, also the extra-scientific, conditions for the formation of theories in psychology.

In view of the persistent and seemingly insoluble controversies between the main directions of psychology (and the philosophy of science), standardization is not to be expected for the time being. The task of theoretical psychology is therefore to explain the reasons why such a unified theory is impossible. The conception of theoretical psychology as a system and discussion of the key controversies consequently leads to demands on methodology, didactics and scientific training.

Bibliography

  • Jochen Fahrenberg : Theoretical Psychology. A system of controversies. (PDF file, 7.4 MB). Pabst Science Publishers, Lengerich 2015, ISBN 978-3-95853-077-5 .
  • Norbert Groeben: Action, action, behavior as units of an understanding-explanatory psychology. Franke, Tübingen 1986, ISBN 3-7720-1793-2 .
  • Norbert Groeben (Ed.): On the program of a social science psychology. (Volume 1 and 2, each 2 half volumes). Aschendorff, Münster 1997-2003, ISBN 3-402-04603-2 .
  • Wolfgang Holzapfel: Richard Pauli and his plan for a theoretical psychology. Roderer, Regensburg 1995, ISBN 3-89073-845-1 .
  • Johannes Lindworsky (SJ): Theoretical Psychology in Outline. Johann Ambrosius Barth, Leipzig 1926. (Instead of a third edition of the “Outline sketch for a Theoretical Psychology”, Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 89, 1922, pp. 313–357).
  • KB Madsen: A history of psychology in scientific perspective. North Holland, Amsterdam 1988, ISBN 0-444-70433-7 .
  • Eckart Scheerer: Soul. In: Joachim Ritter, Karlfried founder (ed.). Historical dictionary of philosophy. Volume 9, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1995, pp. 54-89.
  • Wolfgang Schönpflug: History and systematics of psychology. 3. Edition. Beltz, Weinheim 2013, ISBN 978-3-621-28065-5 .
  • Harald Walach: Psychology. Theory of Science, Philosophical Foundations and History. 3. Edition. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-17-022937-2 .
  • Hans Westmeyer: Theoretical Psychology. Sketch of an interdisciplinary research program. In: D. Frey (ed.). Report on the 37th Congress of the German Society for Psychology in Kiel 1990 . Volume 2, Hogrefe, Göttingen 1991, pp. 481-486.
  • Hans Westmeyer (Ed.): The structuralist program in psychology: Foundations and applications. Hogrefe & Huber, Seattle, WA, 1992, ISBN 3-456-82325-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Ziche: Science landscapes around 1900: Philosophy, the sciences and non-reductive scientism. Chronos, Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-0340-0877-8 .
  2. ↑ Wilhelm Wundt: About pure and applied psychology. In: Psychological Studies. 5, 1909, pp. 1-47.
  3. ↑ Wilhelm Wundt: The psychology in the struggle for existence. Kröner, Leipzig 1913.
    Nicole Schmidt: Philosophy and Psychology. Separation history, dogmas and perspectives . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1995, ISBN 3-499-55556-5 .
  4. ↑ See the preparations for the first international congresses. Mark R. Rosenzweig, WH Holtzman, M. Sabourin, D. Belanger (Eds.): The History of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) . Psychology Press, Hove, East Sussex 2000.
  5. ↑ Friedrich Albert Lange: History of materialism and criticism of its significance in the present. Baedeker, Iserlohn, 1866, p. 464 f.
    Gerd Jüttemann (Ed.): Psychology as human science. A manual. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-525-46215-8 .
  6. ^ Felix Krueger: Opening of the XIII. Congress. The situation of the science of the soul in the German present. In: O. Klemm (Ed.). Report on the XIII. Congress of the German Society for Psychology in Leipzig from 16.-19. October 1933. Fischer, Jena 1934, pp. 6–36.
    Albert Wellek: Psychology . Franke, Munich 1962.
  7. ↑ Joseph Geyser: Textbook of general psychology. Schöningh, Münster 1912.
    Constantin Gutberlet: The psychology without a soul. In: Philosophical Yearbook. 21 (1), 1888, pp. 145-176.
    Constantin Gutberlet: The fight for the soul. Kirchheim, Mainz 1903.
  8. ↑ Eckart Scheerer: Soul. In: Joachim Ritter, Karlfried founder (ed.). Historical dictionary of philosophy. Volume 9, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1995, pp. 54-89.
    Gerd Jüttemann (Ed.): Psychology as human science. A manual. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-525-46215-8 .
    Gerd Jüttemann (Ed.): The development of the psyche in the history of mankind. Pabst Science Publishers, Lengerich 2013, ISBN 978-3-89967-859-8 .
  9. ↑ Markus A. Wirtz (ed.): Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Huber, Bern 2013, ISBN 978-3-456-85460-1 .
  10. ↑ Johannes Lindworsky, 1926, p. 1.
  11. ^ Johannes Lindworsky, 1926, p. 3.
  12. ↑ Johannes Lindworsky, 1926, p. 6.
  13. ↑ Wolfgang Holzapfel: Richard Pauli and his plan for a theoretical psychology. Roderer, Regensburg 1995, ISBN 3-89073-845-1 , p. 39.
  14. ↑ Karl Bühler: The crisis of psychology. Fischer, Jena 1927.
    Eduard Spranger: The question of the unity of psychology. (= Collected Writings Volume 4, Psychology and Human Education). Niemeyer, Tübingen 1974, pp. 1-36. (Also in: Meeting reports of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class. 24, 1926, pp. 172–199).
    Richard Willy: The Crisis in Psychology. Reisland, Leipzig, 1899.
    Lev S. Wygotski: The crisis of psychology in its historical significance. Methodological study. In: J. Lompscher (Ed.). Lev Vygotsky. Work on theoretical and methodological problems in psychology. Selected writings . Volume 1, Pahl-Rugenstein, Cologne 1984, pp. 57-277. (written 1926–1927, printed: Moscow 1982).
  15. ^ Wilhelm Dilthey: Ideas on a descriptive and dissecting psychology. In: Meeting reports of the Berlin Academy of Sciences. 1894, pp. 1309-1407. (Also in Ges. Schriften Volume V, Teubner, Stuttgart 1924, pp. 139–240).
    Gerhard Benetka: Thinking styles of psychology. 19th century. WUV, Vienna 2002.
    Jochen Fahrenberg, Theoretical Psychology. 2015, 1894, pp. 409-461.
  16. ^ Eberhard Tiefensee: Philosophy and Religion with Franz Brentano (1838-1917). Francke, Tübingen, 1998, ISBN 3-7720-2582-X .
  17. ↑ Jochen Fahrenberg: Theoretical Psychology. 2015, pp. 740-759.
  18. ^ KB Madsen: Theories of motivation. Munksgaard, Copenhagen, 1959.
    KB Madsen: Modern theories of motivation. A comparative metascientific study. Munksgaard, Copenhagen 1974.
  19. ^ Hans Westmeyer: Theoretical Psychology. Sketch of an interdisciplinary research program. In: D. Frey (ed.). Report on the 37th Congress of the German Society for Psychology in Kiel 1990 . Volume 2, Hogrefe, Göttingen 1991, pp. 481-486.
  20. ^ Jochen Fahrenberg: Wilhelm Wundt - pioneer of psychology and outsider? e-book . 2011.
    Jochen fahrenberg: Wilhelm Wundts theory of science. - An attempt at reconstruction. In: Psychological Rundschau. 63, (4), 2012, pp. 228-238.
    Jochen Fahrenberg: On the theory of categories in psychology. Complementarity principle. Perspectives and change of perspective. . Pabst Science Publishers, Lengerich 2013, ISBN 978-3-89967-891-8 .
    Gerd Jüttemann (Ed.): The development of the psyche in the history of mankind. Pabst Science Publishers, Lengerich 2013, ISBN 978-3-89967-859-8 .
    Gerd Jüttemann (Ed.): Wilhelm Wundt's other legacy. A misunderstanding resolves . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-525-49087-9 .
  21. ↑ Jochen Fahrenberg: Leibniz 'influence on Wundt's psychology, philosophy and ethics. [1]
  22. ^ Sigmund Koch: Theoretical Psychology. In: Psychological Review. 58, 1951, pp. 295-301.
  23. ^ Andre Kukla: Methods of theoretical psychology. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2001.
  24. ↑ Volker Gadenne: Philosophy of Psychology . Huber, Bern 2004.
  25. ↑ e-journal Philosophy of Psychology
  26. ↑ Hilarion G. Petzold (Ed.): The images of people in psychotherapy. Interdisciplinary perspectives and the models of the therapy schools. Krammer Verlag, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-901811-62-3 .
  27. ^ Robin G. Collingwood: An essay on metaphysics. 2nd Edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1998.
  28. ↑ Armin Günther: Reflexive knowledge and psychological research. Deutscher Universitätsverlag, Wiesbaden 1996, ISBN 3-8244-4196-9 .
  29. ↑ K. Madsen: Psychological Metatheory. In: Annals of Theoretical Psychology. 3, 1985, pp. 1-16.
  30. ↑ Eckart Scheerer: Psychology. In: Joachim Ritter, Karlfried founder (ed.). Historical dictionary of philosophy. Volume 7, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1989, p. 1651.