what are certin fundemental issues that face all branches of psychology? is it nature vs nurture concious vs unconcious,....... thanks......

-- maureen hagen (nyit95@aol.com), March 26, 2001

Answers

Response to fundemental issues

There is no simple, consensual answer to this question, but for my money, among the most fundamental questions facing psychology are two in particular that psychologists almost never talk about, though philosophers of mind do. They are:

(1) How can an ordinary lump of matter like the brain give rise to conscious experience?

(2) How can an ordinary lump of matter like the brain give rise to intentionality (i.e., the ability to refer to things apart from itself)?

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), March 26, 2001.

I would not cast any doubt that Christopher's two issues are not fundamental, but a third, and probably related answer would be c) how can I know more about what you experience apart from the actions I can observe directly? (Mind you, telling me what you feel etc. is action as well.) This problem led Descartes and Kant astray for different reasons. They came to the conclusion that psychology as a science was impossible (It led Kant to the solution that there was a kind of practical action science (anthropology), and from Descartes to Vico and introspectionism.) Rene' van Hezewijk

-- Rene' van Hezewijk (r.vanhezewijk@fss.uu.nl), March 27, 2001.

Hi Maureen, you might look at An Introduction to the History of Psychology 2nd ed. by B.R. Hergenhahn. There is a list of "Persistent Questions in Psychology" on page 14. Best, David

-- david clark (doclark@yorku.ca), March 28, 2001.

Read Robert Brodie MacLeod's The Persistent Problems of Psychology. He focuses especially on isues related to the nature of persons.

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@fuller.edu), May 08, 2001.