THE GENERAL PROBLEMS OF PSYCHOLOGY. Conceptions .. (Illustrated)
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Book Details
Author(s)
Ph.D. ROBERT MAC DOUGALL
ISBN / ASIN
B003O85UWS
ISBN-13
978B003O85UW6
Marketplace
France 🇫🇷
Description
THE GENERAL PROBLEMS OF PSYCHOLOGY. Conceptions .. (Illustrated)
THE GENERAL PROBLEMS OF PSYCHOLOGY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION: THE GENERAL PROBLEMS
OF SCIENCE
A DISCUSSION of the general problems of any science consists in a reflective analysis of its system of theoretical aims and of the methods or procedure it employs. The field of these logical
alternatives is not developed through a review of the empirical facts established by inductive research, but through critical examination of the nature and function of those concepts which the science has formulated and applied in the course of its work. It is the attempt of
any mind to think out for itself the implications of its procedure within the given field.
The materials for such a discussion are to be found in the reflective consciousness of the thinker himself. To follow it, he needs only to be acquainted with the general field and methods of the science in question, since he will be concerned neither with the verification of results in technical experimentation nor with an estimation of individual contributions to scientific knowledge, in considering the general problems of any science, such comparative study is logically subordinate. The inquiry being an examination into theory, an his-
torical survey could only serve the purpose of supplementing materials drawn primarily from the individual's own reflection. Any failure to make a systematic review of the field will be thrown into relief by a consideration of the actual variety of conceptions formulated in the
4 THE GENERAL PROBLEMS OF PSYCHOLOGY
course of historical development, and the thinker may thus be stimulated to verify or correct his own conclusions. But the products of this comparative study should have no independent presentation in the development of his work.
Logical and historical inquiries, though mutually assistive, have independent aims. In historical studies the results of reflective criticism should appear in the clarity or integrity which they contribute to the work itself, but not as formal arguments interpolated in the narrative. So also should one's study of the variety of human opinion concerning a subject of critical inquiry appear only in the penetration and adequacy of scope which it contributes to the discussion.
THE GENERAL PROBLEMS OF PSYCHOLOGY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION: THE GENERAL PROBLEMS
OF SCIENCE
A DISCUSSION of the general problems of any science consists in a reflective analysis of its system of theoretical aims and of the methods or procedure it employs. The field of these logical
alternatives is not developed through a review of the empirical facts established by inductive research, but through critical examination of the nature and function of those concepts which the science has formulated and applied in the course of its work. It is the attempt of
any mind to think out for itself the implications of its procedure within the given field.
The materials for such a discussion are to be found in the reflective consciousness of the thinker himself. To follow it, he needs only to be acquainted with the general field and methods of the science in question, since he will be concerned neither with the verification of results in technical experimentation nor with an estimation of individual contributions to scientific knowledge, in considering the general problems of any science, such comparative study is logically subordinate. The inquiry being an examination into theory, an his-
torical survey could only serve the purpose of supplementing materials drawn primarily from the individual's own reflection. Any failure to make a systematic review of the field will be thrown into relief by a consideration of the actual variety of conceptions formulated in the
4 THE GENERAL PROBLEMS OF PSYCHOLOGY
course of historical development, and the thinker may thus be stimulated to verify or correct his own conclusions. But the products of this comparative study should have no independent presentation in the development of his work.
Logical and historical inquiries, though mutually assistive, have independent aims. In historical studies the results of reflective criticism should appear in the clarity or integrity which they contribute to the work itself, but not as formal arguments interpolated in the narrative. So also should one's study of the variety of human opinion concerning a subject of critical inquiry appear only in the penetration and adequacy of scope which it contributes to the discussion.
