This book offers a comprehensive overview of the purpose of history for
psychology. Its purpose is to ask why history should be of concern to
psychologists in teaching and research, and in theory and in practice.
The future position of humanities subjects is currently highly debated
on all fronts. Chapters focus on the arguments from psychologists,
upgrade the precision and quality of discussion, and thus, provide a
base for affirming the place of history of psychology in the broad field
of psychological activity.
A fundamental question dominates the discussion. Is the purpose of the
history of psychology to serve current psychology, rather than to
contribute to historical knowledge - and to enter large debates about
what historical knowledge means for being human? If the answer is yes,
as most psychologists who come to the issues will presume, in what ways?
Are these ways philosophically grounded, or do the social and political
conditions of power and funding in universities dominate the arguments?
In this volume, the contributors demonstrate the relation between
historical investigations and current practice.
Featured topics include:
- The history of psychology and its relation to feminism.
- The history of psychology and its relation to current research
assessment and curriculum.
- The history of science and its relation to psychology.
- The metalanguage for psychology.
- Case studies of history in theory construction.
Centrality of History for Theory Construction in Psychology will be of
interest to psychologists, professors, graduate psychology students, and
scholars in the human sciences.
