Principles of Cognition, Language and Action: Essays on the Foundations of a Science of Psychology - Hardcover

Praetorius, N.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792362306 ISBN 13: 9780792362302

Publisher: Springer, 2000

Synopsis

This book addresses a growing concern as to why Psychology, now more than a hundred years after becoming an independent research area, does not yet meet the basic requirements of a scientific discipline on a par with other sciences such as physics and biology. These requirements include: agree­ ment on definition and delimitation of the range of features and properties of the phenomena or subject matter to be investigated; secondly, the development of concepts and methods which unambiguously specify the phenomena and systematic investigation of their features and properties. A third equally important requirement, implicit in the first two, is exclusion from enquiry of all other mattes with which the discipline is not concerned. To these requirements must then be added the development of basic assumptions about the nature of what is under investigation, and of principles to account for its properties and to serve as a guide as to what are relevant questions to ask and theories to develop about them.

About this title

Synopsis

This work exposes flaws in the reductionist assumptions about mind and matter of naturalism and constructivism, which underlie research and theorizing on cognition, language and action within academic psychology. The author argues for alternative, radically different assumptions about the relationship between the mental and material reality, which are not only tenable, but as a matter of principle must be taken for granted, and be the point of departure for all investigations into both reality and our cognition and description of it. The consequences of the arguments in this book are far-reaching. The assumptions and principles derived from them offer a consistent foundation for a science of psychology. They also open up new and straightforward ways of dealing with the key issues of truth and intentionality, subjectivity and objectivity, of relevance to philosophy, the humanities and social sciences.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792362306
• ISBN 13: 9780792362302
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 513