How are philosophy and history important in understanding modern psychology?

-- Sarah Osika (sosika@sfu.ca), October 16, 2002

Answers

This is a very complicated question that can hardly be answered fully here. Knowing where psychology has been, however, can tell one a lot about why it is the way it is now. An example: intelligence test were developed to handle (first) the huge influx of students when the French first set up a public school system. WIthout that, they probably never would have been needed. They became popular in the US when a new wave of (southern and eastern european) immigrants began arriving and the gov't wanted a quick scientific-looking criterion for turning at least some away. You don't learn that by reading the test manuals.

As for philosophy, modern psychology adopted most of its basic conceptual aparatus from philosophy of mind, and still uses quite a bit of it. Looking at where it came from and how it continues to be used today can help one to understand what purposes it serves.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), October 17, 2002.

Since it's inception, the development of psychology has been shaped by a range of contextual forces, including socio-political forces, as Chris' example shows. One value to history is to show how psychology was shaped in the past, but it's common to assume that contemporary psychology is isolated from these forces because it's now a mature discipline. I would argue that this is not the case, and that contemporary psychology is influenced by the same forces that have always shaped the discipline. The clearest way to identify these forces is to use the benefit of hindsight, and to use history to inform an understanding of the way in which psychology is contingent on a whole range of influences. The value of the approach is demonstrated in a range of texts, for example Danziger, K. (1990) Constructing the Subject, Cambridge: CUP, which shows how investigative methodology in psychology developed to meet a particular social need. The general argument, and some wider but less detailed examples, are covered in my own Jones, D & Elcock, J (2001) History and Theories of Psychology: a critical perspective, London: Arnold.

-- Dai Jones (djones@glos.ac.uk), October 19, 2002.