Psychologism

Psychologism is a teaching system, according to the logic and / or the theory of knowledge can be reduced to empirical laws of psychology.

History

Towards the end of the 19th century, both psychologists and philosophers have argued for psychologism, on the one hand as part of experimental psychology, on the other hand, the philosophy of life. In the 18th century the empiricist David Hume had conceived the idea of causality as mere habit of thought: causality is not an objective law of nature, but it is only the human mind is compelled to assume that every effect has a cause. This pressure for acceptance arises after Hume out of mere habit because the man always concurrent events observed. The similar set utilitarianism, especially John Stuart Mill with its system of deductive and inductive logic, in 1843 opened the controversy surrounding the psychologistic position. In logic there, especially in the 19th century perspectives (eg, Wilhelm Wundt, Sigwart Ch, Th Lipps, B. Erdmann ), which are also referred to as psychologism. Starting point of psychologism of this kind was to determine the logic as a science of thinking or of the forms of thought, which has been considered here only as a mental function and thus as a subject of psychology. The logic would be reduced to a branch of psychology, or at least a branch of it.

Controversy surrounding logic and psychology of thinking

The controversy surrounding the psychologism is often seen as a major theme in the story of separation of philosophy and psychology. It is mainly associated with the name of Edmund Husserl and Wilhelm Wundt and the Würzburg school. The main controversy was led to the relationship between psychology of thought and logic. Husserl was of the opinion that logical concepts, probability, necessity, cause and effect, independent and normative categories. He sharply criticized the psychologizing of logic. It would not matter here, as the mind is and thinks, but how he should proceed in thinking. Already in building a psychological theory yes would the rules of logic are required. Wundt distinguished here two perspectives: the logic applies normative and universal, but the laws of logic are to describe and psychologically, as well as each bound to a brain psychic phenomenon could also be described physiologically. But describe does not mean that it is also explained in this way. Husserl imputed Wundt an extreme form of psychologism, while Wundt tried to explain that he rigorously reject the logical psychologism and logical thinking for the universal bond of thought believe.

How complex the charge of psychologism can be seen from the example of Viktor Frankl, who emerged as a sharp critic of psychologism. He struggled especially against Sigmund Freud and his atheism and the attempts to explain religious phenomena as illusory ideals unattainable due to the need for freedom from suffering and happiness. The psychoanalytic demand for consistent awareness of people about their psychological and subconscious nature could lead to mania debunking and unmasking. Frankl rejected the unlimited psychologizing the innermost convictions and demanded a halt before the "real ", the meaning and the values ​​of the people. Frankl spoke of a devaluation of humanity by Freud, which would lead to the nihilism and cynicism.

Philosophy of Psychology and Psychology of Philosophy

The relationship between philosophy and psychology seems to be often understood as a unilateral dependence, as the history of science development and the separation corresponds history. The term philosophy of psychology is familiar with the psychology of philosophy is - under this name - unusual. Psychological problems of philosophy and - even more - psychological commentaries on the person and work of individual philosophers may contradiction, provoking accusations of a misguided and psychologizing of psychologism. Philosophical ideas are certainly to be interpreted as belief systems and psychologically analyzed in the context of psychosocial biography and religion of the author. There will probably be at philosophers and psychologists a broad spectrum of opinion, may be these transgressions as fruitful. - That just phenomenological thinkers such as Edmund Husserl and Max Scheler expressed psychologism - accusation is obvious, because the phenomenological method in its process and its results, in their alleged freedom of theories and prejudices, at least occasion for critical psychological Comments offers. This can result in psychological know or think psychologically, including happen to cognitive styles, concept formation, judgment tendencies, etc., or content, eg with regard to the often one-sided assumptions and people images.

What should be an objection against not only systematic and historical, but also psychological and biographical perspective on the work of philosophers and their controversies, if only a destructive " nothing else than" interpretation is avoided? Even philosophers can be influenced by preconceived beliefs and sustainable, self-reflection only partially accessible settings, as it is claimed for the empirical research-based human scientists. So here are not only the tradition and their own place in this tradition meant or the dependencies on the historical context, but also individual- biographical, cultural and ethnocentric assumptions related to the people.

Criticism

Contemporary opponents of psychologism were the neo-Kantians by the alleged priorism of them. Yet fierce argument Gottlob Frege's got the counter, who turned out the difference between subjective and objective enforcement of thought content of thought - hence his logicism.