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This book is a collection of new, published and revised essays on the place and value of scientific realism in psychology. Through critical analyses of contemporary psychology, essays argue that the realist requirements of a properly scientific psychology are often misunderstood even in the disciplineâs putatively scientific heart, with profound conceptual and empirical consequences. Against this, and in answer to recent calls to demonstrate the relevance of realism, the essays sketch the elements of a realist program: they discuss the recent history, development and principal features of a distinctive, thoroughgoing, realism for psychology: its theories, concepts, methods and applications. It thus aims to extend realism from philosophy to psychology, articulate a realist metatheory, clarify realismâs relevance, and promote its discussion.
Nigel Mackay, D.Phil. (1982), University of Oxford, is Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Wollongong. He is the author of the monograph Motivation and Explanation (1989) on Freudâs philosophy of science, and various papers on theory and method.
Agnes Petocz, PhD. (1996) in Psychology, University of Sydney, is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Western Sydney. She has published on various topics in psychology and philosophy, and is author of Freud, Psychoanalysis and Symbolism (CUP, 1999).
Agnes Petocz, PhD. (1996) in Psychology, University of Sydney, is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Western Sydney. She has published on various topics in psychology and philosophy, and is author of Freud, Psychoanalysis and Symbolism (CUP, 1999).
"Mackay and Petocz have put together an impressive and formidable collection of papers that will undoubtedly do much to raise the profile of realist psychology."
Viren Swami, University of Westminster
Viren Swami, University of Westminster
Introduction
Part 1: The Nature and Context of Realism
1. Realism and the state of theory in psychology.
N. Mackay & A. Petocz
2. Essays in realism: Analysis and discussion.
N. Mackay & A. Petocz
3. Andersonâs development of (situational) realism and its bearing on psychology today.
F. J. Hibberd
Part 2: From Philosophy to Psychology
4. The knower and the known.
J. Anderson
5. The concept of attitude.
J. R. Maze
6. Drives and consummatory actions.
J. R. Maze
7. Maze's direct realism and the character of cognition.
J. Michell
Part 3: Critiques and Developments
8. âOut thereâ, not âin hereâ: A Realist account of concepts
T. McMullen
9. Representationism, realism and the redundancy of âmentaleseâ.
J. R. Maze
10. Constructivism, direct realism and the nature of error.
A. Rantzen
11. Concept, class, and category in the tradition of Aristotle.
J. P. Sutcliffe
12. Normal science, pathological science and psychometrics.
J. Michell
13. Social constructionism, deconstructionism and some requirements of discourse.
J. R. Maze
14. Reply to Gergen.
F. J. Hibberd
15. On some accounts of meaning and their problems.
N. Mackay
16. Why psychology has neglected symbolism and what a realist approach can offer.
A. Petocz
17. A new psychologyâthe metaphysical and the mundane.
P. Bell
18. The place of qualitative research in psychology.
J. Michell
19. Science, meaning and the scientist-practitioner model of treatment.
A. Petocz
20. Addressing mental plurality: justification, objections and logical requirements of strongly partitive accounts of mind.
S. Boag
21. Rezoning pleasure: Drives and affects in personality theory.
D. McIlwain
22. A realist account of mental causation.
S. Medlow
23. Drive theory reconsidered (again!).
G. Newbery
Part 1: The Nature and Context of Realism
1. Realism and the state of theory in psychology.
N. Mackay & A. Petocz
2. Essays in realism: Analysis and discussion.
N. Mackay & A. Petocz
3. Andersonâs development of (situational) realism and its bearing on psychology today.
F. J. Hibberd
Part 2: From Philosophy to Psychology
4. The knower and the known.
J. Anderson
5. The concept of attitude.
J. R. Maze
6. Drives and consummatory actions.
J. R. Maze
7. Maze's direct realism and the character of cognition.
J. Michell
Part 3: Critiques and Developments
8. âOut thereâ, not âin hereâ: A Realist account of concepts
T. McMullen
9. Representationism, realism and the redundancy of âmentaleseâ.
J. R. Maze
10. Constructivism, direct realism and the nature of error.
A. Rantzen
11. Concept, class, and category in the tradition of Aristotle.
J. P. Sutcliffe
12. Normal science, pathological science and psychometrics.
J. Michell
13. Social constructionism, deconstructionism and some requirements of discourse.
J. R. Maze
14. Reply to Gergen.
F. J. Hibberd
15. On some accounts of meaning and their problems.
N. Mackay
16. Why psychology has neglected symbolism and what a realist approach can offer.
A. Petocz
17. A new psychologyâthe metaphysical and the mundane.
P. Bell
18. The place of qualitative research in psychology.
J. Michell
19. Science, meaning and the scientist-practitioner model of treatment.
A. Petocz
20. Addressing mental plurality: justification, objections and logical requirements of strongly partitive accounts of mind.
S. Boag
21. Rezoning pleasure: Drives and affects in personality theory.
D. McIlwain
22. A realist account of mental causation.
S. Medlow
23. Drive theory reconsidered (again!).
G. Newbery
Anyone interested in the history, theory, and philosophy of psychology; philosophy of mind, science or the social sciences; psychological practice, or research methodologies; psychoanalysis; and realism in philosophy and psychology.