The Philosophy of Psychology
- William O'Donohue - University of Nevada, Reno, USA
- Richard F Kitchener - Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA
With the cognitive revolution of the 1960s, there has been a resurgence of interest in the study of the philosophical assumptions and implications of psychology. Several significant themes, such as the foundations of knowledge, behaviourism, rationality, emotion and cognitive science span both philosophy and psychology, and are covered here along with a wide range of issues in the fields of folk psychology, clinical psychology, neurophysiology and professional ethics.
The Philosophy of Psychology...does more than review philosophical psychology as it exists today, but also tries to move the field in new directions. The last two sections bring philosohical reflections to issues in clinical psychology. The fourth section, Clinical Psychology and Philosophy, contains two articles on philosophical concerns about psychoanalysis - a traditional area - but breaks new ground with an article questioning the soundness of the concept of rationality underpinning rational-emotive psychotherapy. The final section, Ethics and Psychology, addresses a wide range of ethical issues in psychology, including psychology's implicit values and inconsistencies between scientific psychology's belief in determinism and its insistence on informed consent in therapy and experimentation. Of special interest to teachers of psychological practitioners will be two articles about the APA's code of ethics, one of which finds it seriously wanting, whereas the other finds it a good, if flawed, attempts to define professional "goodness".
The Philosophy of Psychology is a good introduction to the field it surveys. Almost all the articles can be read by someone unfamiliar with the topics discussed, and varying points of view are well represented. It might well serve as an auxilliary text in graduate-level courses in history and systems of psychology, whereas specific chapters might be assigned to courses in ethics, cognitive science, or philosophy of mind' - Contemporary Psychology
`The very wide-ranging nature of this book means that it should not only be of interest to those on courses devoted to the philosophy of psychology, but should also be relevant to courses on ethics, cognitive science and clinical psychology, at the least. One measure of a book's usefulness should be whether it has affected one's teaching. It certainly passes that test. I recommended it to my students' - Psychology Teaching Review
Useful text for students wishing to explore this area in more depth.
This is a book that will inform extension activities in the delivery of seminar and discussion/further reading aspects of an arts based course.
By developing awareness, through quotations and small sections of analysis on key perspectives, the book sheds light on the possibilities of new forms of interpretation of 'psychological experience' often the content for many of the student's projects. To aid students in seeing this experience from radically different perspectives is a valuable aim and application of this book, especially in preparation for Level 6 independent research. However, the language level (readability and comprehension) may be challenging to the majority of students and in this case provides extension activity for those either more mature or advanced students to do further reading.
