The Wiley Handbook of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology: Methods, Approaches, and New Directions for Social Sciences

This handbook is a treasure trove of papers that both analyze the historical and philosophical basis of contemporary theories and methods in experimental psychology and its applied off–shoots, and recommend carefully crafted alternative theoretical paradigms for psychology s future. A major contribution to the field.

Ronald B. Miller, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Saint Michael s College, Chair, Vermont Board of Psychological Examiners, APA Fellow

One of the chief antidotes to the narrowness and overspecialization of contemporary psychology is critical thinking or, as my ex–philosophy professor called it, talk about talk. This volume fairly brims with talk about talk, and as a result brilliantly widens the scope of our understanding about how and why we behave as we do. I highly recommend this volume to all those who seek to illuminate in vivid and concrete detail the array of philosophical contexts in psychology and, by implication, the very edges of our inquiry.

Kirk Schneider, PhD, Adjunct faculty, Saybrook University and Teachers College, Columbia University; author of The Polarized Mind and Existential–Integrative Therapy

A volume of vast scope that provides an indispensable resource for anyone undertaking a serious study of almost any field of psychological inquiry. Presenting original ideas as well as authoritative overviews, the chapters of this book are remarkable for their foundational quality.

Kurt Danziger, Professor Emeritus, York University, Canada

This handbook brings together chapters by many key contributors to give the reader a rich overview of the subdiscipline of theoretical and philosophical psychology. I especially appreciate the chapters that examine how work in psychology at large is historically situated and the chapters that illustrate how consideration of fundamental philosophical matters can make contributions to our understanding of specific substantive issues in the field.
Michael A. Westerman, Associate Professor of Psychology, New York University

Theoretical and philosophical psychology has emerged in recent years as a distinctive subdiscipline within psychology, yet its methodologies and motives remain surprisingly little understood by practicing psychologists and students in the field. Filling this critical need, The Wiley Handbook of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology presents a comprehensive exploration of the wide range of methods and approaches utilized by contemporary theoretical and philosophical psychologists. Chapters explicate the inner workings of theoretical psychology showing exactly what it is that theoretical psychologists do and why they do it, while revealing theoretical and philosophical ways to approach the study of psychological phenomena and psychology itself. Topics include conceptual, philosophical, and historical approaches to theoretical psychology, narrative approaches to the nature of human conduct, theoretical bases of contemporary psychotherapeutic practices, and the historical uses and misuses of statistical methodologies to measure human progress. Featuring contributions from international experts in a variety of disciplines, The Wiley Handbook of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology is an invaluable resource for current thinking on the major issues, theories, and diverse methodological approaches relating to the theoretical foundations of psychology.

Acknowledgments xv

1 Editors Introduction 1
Jack Martin, Jeff Sugarman, and Kathleen L. Slaney

Part I Philosophical/Conceptual Approaches 21

2 Philosophical Anthropology 23
Matthew LaVine and Michael A. Tissaw

3 Conceptual Analysis 39
Timothy P. Racine

4 Philosophical Hermeneutics 53
Frank C. Richardson

5 An Aristotelian Analysis of the Structure of Human Action 70
Blaine J. Fowers

6 Phenomenology: Methods, Historical Development, and Applications in Psychology 85
Frederick J. Wertz

7 Theory for and as Social Practice of Realizing the Future: Implications from a Transformative Activist Stance 102
Anna Stetsenko

8 Rhetoric and Psychology: Ending the Dominance of Nouns 117
Michael Billig and Cristina Marinho

Part II Historical Approaches 133

9 Historical Thinking as a Tool for Theoretical Psychology: On Objectivity 135
Thomas Teo

10 The History of Psychological Objects 151
Adrian Charles Brock

11 Historical Ontology 166
Jeff Sugarman

12 Historiometry 183
Dean Keith Simonton

13 Statistical Thinking in Psychological Research: In Quest of Clarity through Historical Inquiry and Conceptual Analysis 200
James T. Lamiell

Part III Narrative and Social Psychological Approaches 217

14 Narrative Psychology and Life Stories 219
Ruthellen Josselson and Brent Hopkins

15 Narrative Hermeneutics 234
Mark Freeman

16 Life Positioning Analysis 248
Jack Martin

17 Positioning Theory 263
Rom Harré

18 The Personal Position Repertoire (PPR) Method as Based on Dialogical Self Theory 277
Hubert J.M. Hermans

19 Subjectivity as Socioculturally Constituted Experience 293
Suzanne R. Kirschner

20 A Transdisciplinary Psychosocial Approach 308
Paul Stenner

Part IV Theoretical Studies of Scientific, Professional, and Life Practices 325

21 Allies in Interdisciplinary Spaces: Theoretical Psychology and Science Studies 327
Kareen Ror Malone and Lisa M. Osbeck

22 I m Not That Kind of Psychologist : A Case for Methodological Pragmatism in Theoretical Inquiries into Psychological Science Practices 343
Kathleen L. Slaney

23 The Value of Experiments in Psychology 359
Jan Smedslund

24 Feminism and Theoretical Psychology 374
Alexandra Rutherford, Kate Sheese, and Nora Ruck

25 Surprisability and Practical Rationality: Knowledge Advancement through the Explication of Interpretation 392
Brent D. Slife, Clayton T. Johnson, and Amy C. Jennings

26 Empirical Philosophy: Using Your Everyday Life in Theoretical Psychology 409
Svend Brinkmann

27 Theoretical Bases of Psychotherapeutic Practices 424
John Chambers Christopher, Samuel C. Gable, and David M. Goodman

28 Contemporary Psychoanalysis: The Post–Cartesian Turn in Theory and Practice 441
Roger Frie

Index 458

Jack Martin is Burnaby Mountain Professor of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. He is a Fellow of the Canadian and American Psychological Associations, and a Past President of the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. His most recent books include The Education of Selves: How Psychology Transformed Students (2013) and The Psychology of Personhood (2013).

Jeff Sugarman is Professor of Education and Psychology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Educational Research Association, and a Past President of the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. He is the co–author of Persons: Understanding Psychological Selfhood and Agency (2010), Psychology and the Question of Agency (2003), and The Psychology of Human Possibility and Constraint (1999).

Kathleen Slaney is Associate Professor in the History, Quantitative, and Theoretical Psychology area of the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. She was awarded the Sigmund Koch Award for Early Career Contributions to Psychology from the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, and is co–editor of A Wittgensteinian Perspective on the Use of Conceptual Analysis in Psychology (2013).