Psychologism

Psychologism

Psychologism is a generic type of position in philosophy according to which psychology plays a central role in grounding or explaining some other, non-psychological type of fact or law. The most common types of psychologism are logical psychologism and mathematical psychologism.

Logical psychologism is a position in logic (or the philosophy of logic) according to which logical laws and mathematical laws are grounded in, derived from or explained by psychological facts (or laws). Psychologism in the philosophy of mathematics is the position that mathematical concepts and/or truths are grounded in, derived from or explained by psychological facts (or laws).

John Stuart Mill seems to have been an advocate of a type of logical psychologism, as were many Nineteenth-Century German logicians such as Sigwart and Erdmann. Psychologism was famously criticized by Frege in his "The Foundations of Arithmetic", and many of his works and essays, including his review of Husserl's "Philosophy of Arithmetic". Edmund Husserl, in the first volume of his "Logical Investigations", called "The Prolegomena of Pure Logic", criticized psychologism thoroughly and sought to distance himself from it. The "Prolegomena" is considered a more concise, fair, and thorough refutation of psychologism than the criticisms made by Frege, and also it is considered today by many as being a memorable refutation for its decisive blow to psychologism.

There are other kinds of psychologism. For example, there is a psychologism pertaining to epistemology which mixes up problems of "epistemology" (context of justification) with problems of "psychology" (context of discovery). The criticism of this kind of psychologism can be traced back to Kant. Karl Popper criticized this kind of psychologism in his "The Logic of Scientific Discovery", and some other works. According to Popper, one shouldn't confuse such questions as "How can a theory be "tested"?" (context of justification) with "How do we "come up" with a new theory?" (context of discovery). Psychologists, such as John Locke or David Hume, do not distinguish between these two questions.

ee also

* Anti-psychologism

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/philodept/diwatao/husserl_critique.htm Husserl's Criticism of Psychologism]
* Naturalized epistemology


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • psychologism — [sī käl′ə jiz΄əm] n. any attempt to find psychological bases for historical events, philosophical concepts, etc.: usually a disparaging term …   English World dictionary

  • psychologism — /suy kol euh jiz euhm/, n. (often used pejoratively) 1. emphasis upon psychological factors in the development of a theory, as in history or philosophy. 2. a term or concept of psychology or psychoanalysis, esp. when used in ordinary conversation …   Universalium

  • psychologism — In the philosophy of logic, psychologism is the view that logic is based upon the laws of thought, where these are descriptions of the actual processes whereby human beings think. Logic becomes not so much a normative discipline, giving laws of… …   Philosophy dictionary

  • psychologism — noun Date: 1858 a theory that applies psychological conceptions to the interpretation of historical events or logical thought …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • psychologism — noun The tendency to describe things in psychological or subjective terms …   Wiktionary

  • psychologism — n. tendency to attribute psychological factors to all situations; philosophical outlook that is based on psychology …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Psychologism — a philosophy that holds that human knowledge can be expanded solely through philosophical study …   Mini philosophy glossary

  • psychologism — noun Philosophy a tendency to interpret events or arguments in subjective terms, or to exaggerate the relevance of psychological factors …   English new terms dictionary

  • psychologism — psy·chol·o·gism …   English syllables

  • psychologism — psy•chol•o•gism [[t]saɪˈkɒl əˌdʒɪz əm[/t]] n. pho why emphasis upon psychological factors in the development of a theory, as in history or philosophy …   From formal English to slang

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”