Where is psychology going? Structural fault lines revealed by psychologists' use of Kuhn.

Abstract

Psychologists' appropriation of language and ideas from Thomas Kuhn's (1962Kuhn's ( , 1970b The Structure of Scientific Revolutions reveals deep and contradictory concerns about truth, science, and the progress of the field. The author argues that psychologists, uncomfortably straddling natural and social science traditions, reference Structure for 2 reasons largely overlooked: first, because it presents an intermediate, naturalistic position in the war between relativist and rationalist views of scientific truth, and second, because it presents a psychologized model of scientific change. The author suggests that the history of this mutual influence-psychologists being influenced by Kuhn and vice versa-may usefully inform current practices of psychological science.

Historia Crítica y Teoría Social: La Teoría del Reconocimiento de Axel Honneth Como Enfoque Teórico Para una Historia Crítica de la Psicología

“…Los argumentos de este autor, respecto de cómo se organizan, transforman y legitiman las ciencias, tuvieron un gran impacto en la historia y en la filosofía de la ciencia. En el campo de la historia de la psicología, la noción kuhniana de paradigma fue utilizada por algunos autores para explicar las transformaciones históricas de la disciplina y para caracterizarla como una ciencia multiparadigmática (Caparrós, 1978;Driver-Linn, 2003;Palermo, 1971). La perspectiva de Kuhn tuvo un impacto significativo en el modo positivista de concebir el desarrollo de la ciencia, ya que el concepto de paradigma considera la ciencia como una práctica social, cuyo desarrollo no obedece a una lógica inmanente a la racionalidad científica, sino que responde a consensos y acuerdos al interior de las comunidades científicas (Caparrós, 1978;Kuhn;1962/1985Teo, 2010b).…”

“…Honneth (1992/2003) reconstruye tres formas de interacción social propias de las tres esferas de reconocimiento, el amor, el derecho y la valoración social. En cada una de estas esferas, el reconocimiento encarna la idea de justicia moderna, entendida como igualdad de trato.…”

The Relationship of Inquiry to Public Policy

“…These two dominant epistemologies in American systems of inquiry are not good bedfellows, and have frequently been in conflict with one another (Driver-Linn, 2003;Gieryn, 1999;Sailor & Paul, in press). As Skrtic (1995) has pointed out, Dewey's notion of progressive education as the path to American pragmatic values of democracy, justice, freedom, and equality evolved from pragmatism as a way to steer a course between the disparate European epistemologies.…”

Beyond theoretical orientations: The emergence of a unified scientific framework in professional psychology.

“…Many leaders in psychology, however, have been concerned that the field has become so conflictual and fractured that it might not be able to continue as a scholarly discipline (e.g., Gardner, 2005;Kendler, 2002;Rychlak, 2005;Staats, 2005;Sternberg, 2005). Driver-Linn (2003) noted that "Perceptions of psychology as beleaguered by fractionation and uncertainty are almost ubiquitous" (p. 270).…”