This book brings together the central tenets of William Stern's critical
personalism. Presented for the first time for an English-speaking
audience, this selection of original translations and essays
encapsulates the critical framework of Stern's personalistic psychology.
The selected works highlight the philosophical basis of Stern's
personalistic views, illustrate their relevance in domains of
theoretical and practical importance in psychology, and reveal Stern's
critical stance on certain methodological trends that were gaining favor
within psychology during his lifetime. Lamiell's own chapters
contextualise the translations by providing an overview of the most
basic tenets of critical personalism, and offering a commentary on
paradigmatic commitments within scientific psychology's mainstream that
began to impede Stern's efforts prior to his death, and that remain
obstacles to personalistic thinking in the discipline today.
Largely ignored by his contemporaries, this work forms part of an
emerging body of scholarship that seeks to reintroduce Stern's thinking
into contemporary psychology. The book is intended for academically
oriented scholars with interests in historical, theoretical and
philosophical issues in psychology.