The Critique of Psychology: From Kant to Postcolonial Theory

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Springer Science & Business Media, 2005 M09 23 - 240 pages

Closely paralleling the history of psychology is the history of its critics, their theories, and their contributions. The Critique of Psychology is the first book to trace this alternate history, from a unique perspective that complements the many existing empirical, theoretical, and social histories of the field.

Thomas Teo cogently synthesizes major historical and theoretical narratives to describe two centuries of challenges to—and the reactions of—the mainstream. Some of these critiques of content, methodology, relevance, and philosophical worldview have actually influenced and become integrated into the canon; others pose moral questions still under debate. All are accessibly presented so that readers may judge their value for themselves:

- Kant’s critique of rational and empirical psychology at the end of the 18th century

- The natural-scientific critique of philosophical psychology in the 19th century

- The human-scientific critique of natural-scientific psychology

- The Marxist traditions of critique

- Feminist and postmodern critiques and the contemporary mainstream

- Postcolonial critiques and the shift from cross-cultural to multicultural psychology

This is not a book of critique for critique’s sake: Teo defines the field as a work in progress with goals that are evolving yet constant. In emphasizing ethical and political questions faced by psychology as a discipline, this visionary book points students, academics, and practitioners toward new possibilities for their shared future.

From inside the book

Contents

On the Historiography of the Critique of Psychology
1
Metatheory and the Critique of Psychology
19
PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
20
PSYCHOLOGY AS A PROBLEMATIC SCIENCE
32
Kant and Early 19th Century Critics of Psychology
39
KANTS CRITIQUE OF RATIONAL AND EMPIRICAL PSYCHOLOGY
41
EARLY 19TH CENTURY CRITICS OF PSYCHOLOGY
51
The NaturalScientific Critique
59
REFLECTIONS ON METHODOLOGY
129
The Postmodern Critique
135
THE END OF METANARRATIVES
138
THE PROBLEM OF KNOWLEDGE
140
SUBJECT AND POWER
142
ETHICS
148
AESTHETICS AND LIBERATION
150
The Postcolonial Critique
155

LANGES CRITIQUE OF PSYCHOLOGY
60
THE PROBLEM OF SPECULATION
68
CONTROVERSIES IN NATURALSCIENTIFIC PSYCHOLOGY
72
The HumanScientific Critique
77
DILTHEYS REJECTION OF NATURALSCIENTIFIC PSYCHOLOGY
78
THE GERMANSPEAKING CONTEXT
85
THE ENGLISHSPEAKING TRADITION
89
The Marxist Critique
93
KARL MARXS CRITIQUE OF PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY
94
VYGOTSKYS CRITIQUE OF PSYCHOLOGY
98
HOLZKAMPS CRITIQUE OF TRADITIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
101
FRENCH REFLECTIONS
110
The Feminist Critique
113
THE FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF SCIENCE
117
CRITIQUE OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUBJECT MATTER AND ITS RELEVANCE
121
CHALLENGES TO SUBJECT MATTER RELEVANCE AND METHODOLOGY
124
THE PROBLEM OF ONTOLOGY
158
THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
162
SCIENTIFIC RACISM
164
HIDDEN NEOCOLONIAL THINKING
165
THE PROBLEM WITH PROBLEMATIZATION
172
AN EXAMPLE OF A POSTCOLONIAL PSYCHOLOGY
177
Reflections on the EthicalPolitical Character of Psychology
181
MODELS FOR THE SCIENCEPOLITICS RELATIONSHIP
183
EVALUATIVE SCENARIOS FOR THE SCIENCEPOLITICS RELATIONSHIP
184
FACTS AND DECISIONS IN THE HUMAN AND NATURAL SCIENCES AND POLITICAL AFFORDANCES
188
TRUTH POLITICS AND AN ETHICALPOLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY
189
Notes
191
References
199
Name Index
227
Subject Index
235
Copyright

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Page 199 - American Association of Physical Anthropology 1996 AAPA statement on biological aspects of race.

About the author (2005)

Thomas Teo is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the "History and Theory of Psychology Program" at York University, Toronto, Canada. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Vienna in Austria. His research areas and publications include the historical, epistemological, and ontological foundations of psychology, the critical reflection of psychology as a human science, the history and theory of the concept of race and racism, and the history and theory of German psychology. He is teaching on a regular basis courses on the "History of Psychology," on "Theories of Human Nature," and on "Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Contemporary Psychology."

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