The Transformation of Psychology
Influences of 19th-century Philosophy, Technology and Natural Science
Published on 1. January 2001
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-1-55798-776-1 (ISBN)
Description
At the end of the 18th century, leading minds of the age believed that psychology was inherently constrained from rising to the level of a natural science. By the beginning of the 20th century, scientific psychology was pervasive. How did this change occur so quickly? This study reveals some of the intellectual, social, technological and institutional currents and practices that were commonplace during the 19th century that fostered a radical reappraisal of the scientific possibilities for psychology. Whereas the "standard" historical narrative focuses on Fechner's psychophysics, Helmholtz's physiology, and Wundt's physiological psychology, this volume explores a collection of diverse areas of study that attempted to render psychology scientific. The currents of thought encountered include eugenics and mathematical beauty to prognosticators and phrenologists.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Washington DC
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-55798-776-1 (9781557987761)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Christopher D. Green, Marlene Shore and Thomas Teo are affiliated with York University, Ontario, Canada.
Content
Eugenics and Other Victorian "Secular Religions" - Raymond E. Fancher; Practical Phrenology and Psychological Counseling in 19th-Century America - Michael M. Sokal; Sealing Off the Discipline: Wilhelm Wundt and the Psychology of Memory - Kurt Danziger; Psychology and Memory in the Midst of Change: The Social Concerns of Late-19th-Century North American Psychologists - Marlene Shore; The Psychology of Mathematical Beauty in the 19th Century: The Golden Section - John S. Benjafield; Cause Into Function: Ernst Mach and Reconstructuring Explanation in Psychology, 1872-1905 - Andrew S. Winston; Charles Babbage, the Analytical Engine, and the Possibility of a 19th-Century Cognitive Science - Christopher D. Green; Instincts and Instruments - Katharine Anderson; Philosophic Doubts About Psychology as a Natural Science - Charles W. Tolman; Karl Marx and Wilhelm Dllthey on the Sociohistorical Conceptualization of the Mind - Thomas Teo; Early Developments and Psychology: Genetic and Embryological Influences, 1880-1992 - Fredric Weizmann