For the last 25 years, Kurt Danziger's work has been at the center of developments in history and theory of psychology. This volume makes Danziger's work the focal point of a variety of contributions representing several active areas of research. Written by the leading figures in history and theory of psychology from North America, Europe and South Africa, including Danziger himself, it will serve as a point of departure for those who wish to acquaint themselves with some of the most important issues in this field.
View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.A welcome corrective to the texts that place North America at the center of the intellectual universe. The volume uses an international perspective to illuminate important topics for all countries, including psychology's relation to liberal democracy, the psychologizing of social relations, and psychology's role in cultural imperialism.... An illuminating guide to the history of psychology. --Benjamin Harris, University of New HampshireThe history of psychology is at the forefront of the struggle to re-vision the discipline as a genuine set of global and diverse maps. Instead of a uniform topography where only certain features count, and the only places worth studying are those that are home to the original map-makers, this book offers a new cartography for those willing to invest in different landscapes of psychology. For those who wish to glimpse the future of psychology, there is no better place to begin than with this historical volume. --Henderikus J. Stam, University of Calgary and editor of the journal Theory & PsychologyWhile the U.S. was dominant in the development of psychology for much of the twentieth century, other countries have experienced significant growth in this area since the end of World War II. The percentage of those in the discipline who live and work in the United States has been growing smaller, and it is now impossible to completely understand the field if developments in psychology outside of the U.S. are ignored.This volume brings together luminaries in the field from around the world, including Ruben Ardila, Geoffrey Blowers, Kurt Danziger, Aydan Gulerce, John D. Hogan and Thomas P. Vaccaro, Johann Louw, Fathali M. Moghaddam and Naomi Lee, Anand Paranjpe, Irmingard Staeuble and Cecilia Taiana. Rather than presenting descriptive accounts of psychology in particular countries, each raises core issues concerning what an international perspective can contribute to the history of psychology and to our understanding of psychology as a whole.For too long, much of what we have taken to be the history of psychology has actually been the history of American psychology. This volume, ideal for student use and for those in the field, illuminates how what we have been missing may change our views of the nature of psychology and its history.
For the last 25 years, Kurt Danziger's work has been at the center of developments in history and theory of psychology. This volume makes Danziger's work the focal point of a variety of contributions representing several active areas of research. The authors are among the leading figures in history and theory of psychology from North America, Europe and South Africa, including Danziger himself. This work will serve as a point of departure for those who wish to acquaint themselves with some of the most important issues in this field.
Empathy as epistemically central for our folk psychological understanding of other minds; a rehabilitation of the empathy thesis in light of contemporary philosophy of mind. In this timely and wide-ranging study, Karsten Stueber argues that empathy is epistemically central for our folk-psychological understanding of other agents—that it is something we cannot do without in order to gain understanding of other minds. Setting his argument in the context of contemporary philosophy of mind and the interdisciplinary debate about the nature of our mindreading abilities, Stueber counters objections raised by some in the philosophy of social science and argues that it is time to rehabilitate the empathy thesis. Empathy, regarded at the beginning of the twentieth century as the fundamental method of gaining knowledge of other minds, has suffered a century of philosophical neglect. Stueber addresses the plausible philosophical misgivings about empathy that have been responsible for its failure to gain widespread philosophical acceptance. Crucial in this context is his defense of the assumption, very much contested in contemporary philosophy of mind, that the notion of rational agency is at the core of folk psychology. Stueber then discusses the contemporary debate between simulation theorists—who defend various forms of the empathy thesis—and theory theorists. In distinguishing between basic and reenactive empathy, he provides a new interpretive framework for the investigation into our mindreading capacities. Finally, he considers epistemic objections to empathy raised by the philosophy of social science that have been insufficiently discussed in contemporary debates. Empathy theorists, Stueber writes, should be prepared to admit that, although empathy can be regarded as the central default mode for understanding other agents, there are certain limitations in its ability to make sense of other agents; and there are supplemental theoretical strategies available to overcome these limitations.
Rediscovering Pierre Janet explores the legacy left by the pioneering French psychologist, philosopher and psychotherapist (1859–1947), from the relationship of between Janet and Freud, to the influence of his dissociation theory on contemporary psychotraumatology. Divided into three parts, the first section places Janetian psychological analysis and psychoanalysis in context with the foundational tenets of psychoanalysis, from Freud to relational theory, before the book explores Janet’s work on trauma and dissociation and its influence on contemporary thinking. Part three presents several contemporary psychotherapy approaches directly influenced by Janetian theory, including the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder and dissociative identity disorder. Rediscovering Pierre Janet draws together eminent scholars from a variety of backgrounds, each of whom has developed Janetian constructs according to his or her own theoretical and clinical models. It provides an integrative approach that offers contemporary perspectives on Janet’s work, and will be of significant interest to practicing psychoanalysts, psychiatrists and psychotherapists, especially those treating trauma-related dissociative disorders, as well as researchers with an interest in psychological trauma.
Taking philosophical principles as a point of departure, this book provides essential distinctions for thinking through the history and systems of Western psychology. The book is concisely designed to help readers navigate through the length and complexity found in history of psychology textbooks. From Plato to beyond Post-Modernism, the author examines the choices and commitments made by theorists and practitioners of psychology and discusses the philosophical thinking from which they stem. What kind of science is psychology? Is structure, function, or methodology foremost in determining psychology's subject matter? Psychology, as the behaviorist views it, is not the same as the psychoanalyst's view of it, or the existentialist's, so how may contemporary psychology philosophically-sustain both pluralism and incommensurability? This book will be of great value to students and scholars of the history of psychology.
In this work, the author explains how modern psychology found its language by examining the historically changing structure of psychological discourse and offering an analysis of the recent evolution of the concepts and categories on which the quality of psychological discourse depends.
A powerful new theory of human nature suggests that our secret to success as a species is our unique friendliness “Brilliant, eye-opening, and absolutely inspiring—and a riveting read. Hare and Woods have written the perfect book for our time.”—Cass R. Sunstein, author of How Change Happens and co-author of Nudge For most of the approximately 300,000 years that Homo sapiens have existed, we have shared the planet with at least four other types of humans. All of these were smart, strong, and inventive. But around 50,000 years ago, Homo sapiens made a cognitive leap that gave us an edge over other species. What happened? Since Charles Darwin wrote about “evolutionary fitness,” the idea of fitness has been confused with physical strength, tactical brilliance, and aggression. In fact, what made us evolutionarily fit was a remarkable kind of friendliness, a virtuosic ability to coordinate and communicate with others that allowed us to achieve all the cultural and technical marvels in human history. Advancing what they call the “self-domestication theory,” Brian Hare, professor in the department of evolutionary anthropology and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University and his wife, Vanessa Woods, a research scientist and award-winning journalist, shed light on the mysterious leap in human cognition that allowed Homo sapiens to thrive. But this gift for friendliness came at a cost. Just as a mother bear is most dangerous around her cubs, we are at our most dangerous when someone we love is threatened by an “outsider.” The threatening outsider is demoted to sub-human, fair game for our worst instincts. Hare’s groundbreaking research, developed in close coordination with Richard Wrangham and Michael Tomasello, giants in the field of cognitive evolution, reveals that the same traits that make us the most tolerant species on the planet also make us the cruelest. Survival of the Friendliest offers us a new way to look at our cultural as well as cognitive evolution and sends a clear message: In order to survive and even to flourish, we need to expand our definition of who belongs.
Pierre Janet (1859 – 1947) is considered to be one of the founders of psychology, and pioneered research in the disciplines of psychology, philosophy and psychotherapy. Janet’s most crucial research, particularly in the subjects of ‘dissociation’ and ‘subconscious’ - terms coined by him - is explored in this book, first published in 1952. As Janet did not publish much in English, these notes provide guidance on such areas of study as hysteria and hypnosis, obsessive thinking and the psychology of adaption. Elton Mayo’s comprehensive collection is an important guide for any student with an interest in the history of psychology, psychopathology and social study, and Janet’s revolutionary work in the field.
This book is about the life and work of a Turkish-American social scientist, Muzafer Sherif (1905?1988). He was known for his seminal work on norm and group formations, social judgment, and intergroup conflicts and cooperation. Although Sherif is identified as one of the founders of social psychology, his contribution to the science of psychology goes beyond the limits of social psychology as it is generally defined today.This volume aims to rediscover the theory and research of its subject in the socio-historical context of his time, as well as his relevance for contemporary psychology. Chapters cover a range of topics: an in-depth portrayal of Sherif's life and intellectual struggle in Turkey and in the United States; his metatheoretical considerations on the science of psychology; his theory and research on group and intergroup relationships, social norms and social change; formation and change of frames of reference, ego-involvements and identity; and psychology of slogans.Sherif had profound life experiences in different cultural contexts from the Ottoman Empire and World War I to American universities, which enabled him to see the essentiality of the historico-cultural context in the formation of human phenomena. Sherif's psychology is an elegant exemplar of an integrative science of psychology that is worth rediscovering.
