This volume presents a re-envisioning of the field of theoretical
psychology and offers unique visions for its present and future from
leaders of North American philosophical psychology. It contends that
theoretical psychology has reached 'middle-age' and must consider new
directions to renew its growth. Rooted in a range of research traditions
and the intellectual biographies of its authors, it paves the way toward
this necessary revitalization of the content, activities,
responsibilities, and hopes of theoretical psychology.
The authors situate their analyses in the context of the increasing gap
between alternative and mainstream and between the discipline and the
profession of psychology. They demonstrate that changes in society,
culture and technology, the internationalization of the psychological
humanities, and the cross-fertilization of intellectual innovations from
other disciplines now afford possibilities for new orientations in
theoretical psychology.
The volume aims to do justice to psychological topics, human beings, and
the intellectual problems that psychologists encounter, while also
providing space for (meta)theoretical engagement, often neglected in the
discipline. Together, the chapters in this collection make the case that
a renewal of the discipline and practice of psychology is a task that is
best accomplished collectively, and, despite significant disagreements,
in solidarity.