Psychology in the Modern Sense (2014)

2012

The period of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, known as late antiquity, gave rise to some of the elements that have since constituted the identity of the Western self, alongside new lines of psychological investigation. This article seeks to show that these developments constitute an important stage in the history of Western psychology. It argues, moreover, that without these developments there could be no modern discipline of psychology. Psychology, however, did not exist in the ancient world as an independent science, nor was a distinction drawn between scientific and moral or religious elements of psychological knowledge. Accordingly, this important source of evidence has been neglected by scholars investigating the history of Western psychology, who have tended to focus on the 19th-century roots of scientific psychology. While this is, indeed, the only part of the history of psychology that has a relatively un-problematical subject matter, this article argues for the need to broaden the focus on the history of the discipline of psychology to include the history of psychological knowledge, and seeks to make this important source of evidence available for scholars other than historians of late antiquity.

Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 2017

The history, developments and systems of psychology including the various perspectives has been life long and is a part of our social interaction, philosophy, scientific discovery and technological advancement. Psychology is a part of logic, history, health, law, philosophy, economics and finance, religion and our social political economic development. The beginning and growth in psychology has been a marked development that is highly intertwined with psychopathology, psychiatry, psychotherapy and counselling. This is because the study of human behaviour and mental processes is a part of health, a search for meaning of life, a social concern of what is acceptable and appropriate conduct in society, and at the same time a search for meaning of human relations. This paper links the history and systems of psychology with modernity by highlighting a systematic application of psychology and its principles in our contemporary society.

This paper explores and integrates the concepts learned throughout a course on the history of modern psychology by analyzing psychology’s historical (i.e., Pre-modernism, Modernism, and Post-modernism), philosophical, and empirical underpinnings and their role in helping to shape the important psychological theories and issues of contemporary psychology; by analyzing the relevance of the issues of diversity as they are relate to the history of psychology, and by discussing the effect that Humanism has upon the writer’s chosen career path.

2016

In this chapter, I comment on the ten aspects listed by Roger Smith to show the usefulness of historical research in psychology. Thereby, I characterize and evaluate different historiographic trends. History should be seen as a way of acquiring perspective, and it should offer a conceptual tool for comparison between different epistemological approaches. It is also instrumental in analysis of the social dynamics involved in knowledge construction. In general, therefore, a connection between the history of psychology and the broader field of the history of science seems fruitful.

In 1994, Kurt Danziger published an article in Theory & Psychology with the title, " Does the history of psychology have a future? " The article attracted a great deal of controversy and is now listed on the journal's website as one of the most cited articles in its history. After providing a synopsis of Danziger's article, I discuss some of the issues that emerged from the controversy that followed its publication. I also ask if the position of the history of psychology has changed in the intervening years. We are already in the future that Danziger discussed, even if it is only the near future, and the situation may look different from here. After pointing out that Danziger himself has changed his views on this subject, I suggest that it does look different. The editorial ends with an introduction to the articles in the special issue and some reflections on the importance of understanding the context in which historians of psychology work.

This is an electronic version of the print textbook. Due to electronic rights restrictions, some third party content may be suppressed. Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. The publisher reserves the right to remove content from this title at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. For valuable information on pricing, previous editions, changes to current editions, and alternate formats, please visit www.