Science of Mind

This book explains the social factors that shape the nature of theory and research traditions in psychology. It presents a broad treatment of the construction of theory and knowledge in science and philosophy with particular emphasis on psychological thinking. Du Preez, emphasizing the "evolution of knowledge," discusses theory and research across behaviorism, psychoanalysis, phenomenology, cognitive psychology, and many other psychological areas, placing them in their socio-philosophical contexts.

Sketches a theory of mind which is reflexively applicable to the theoristIdentifies selectors which influence the evolution of research traditionsUses Kuhn's concept of a disciplinary matrix to describe the structure of research traditions**Illustrates the concept of a research tradition by reference to existential phenomenology, psychoanalysis, genetic epistemology, and radical behaviorism

Inhalt

Research Traditions in Psychology: The Knowledge Matrix. Paradigms and Disciplinary Matrixes. Research Traditions and Theories. Rhetoric and Change in Research Traditions: The Uses of Metaphor; or a Hatful of Larks. Displacements: Metaphor/Metonymy/Myth. The Fulcrum of Reason: Truism/Axiom/Tautology. Problem-solving and the Evolution of Theory. Problem-solving and Strategies of Competition. Values. The Quest for the Real. Toward a Reflexive Psychology: Polyphonic Beings. Epilogue. References.