Philosophy of psychology refers to the many
issues at the theoretical foundations of modern
psychology.
== Overview ==
Some of the issues studied by the philosophy
of psychology are epistemological concerns
about the methodology of psychological investigation.
For example:
What is the most appropriate methodology for
psychology: mentalism, behaviorism, or a compromise?
Are self-reports a reliable data-gathering
method?
What conclusions can be drawn from null hypothesis
tests?
Can first-person experiences (emotions, desires,
beliefs, etc.) be measured objectively?Other
issues in philosophy of psychology are philosophical
questions about the nature of mind, brain,
and cognition, and are perhaps more commonly
thought of as part of cognitive science, or
philosophy of mind, such as:
What is a cognitive module?
Are humans rational creatures?
What psychological phenomena come up to the
standard required for calling it knowledge?
What is innateness?Philosophy of psychology
also closely monitors contemporary work conducted
in cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary psychology,
and artificial intelligence, for example questioning
whether psychological phenomena can be explained
using the methods of neuroscience, evolutionary
theory, and computational modeling, respectively.
Although these are all closely related fields,
some concerns still arise about the appropriateness
of importing their methods into psychology.
Some such concerns are whether psychology,
as the study of individuals as information
processing systems (see Donald Broadbent),
is autonomous from what happens in the brain
(even if psychologists largely agree that
the brain in some sense causes behavior (see
supervenience)); whether the mind is "hard-wired"
enough for evolutionary investigations to
be fruitful; and whether computational models
can do anything more than offer possible implementations
of cognitive theories that tell us nothing
about the mind (Fodor & Pylyshyn 1988).
Philosophy of psychology is a relatively young
field because "scientific" psychology—that
is, psychology that favors experimental methods
over introspection—came to dominate psychological
studies only in the late 19th century.
One of philosophy of psychology's concerns
is to evaluate the merits of the many different
schools of psychology that have been and are
practiced.
For example, cognitive psychology's use of
internal mental states might be compared with
behaviorism, and the reasons for the widespread
rejection of behaviorism in the mid-20th century
examined.
Topics that fall within philosophy of mind
go back much farther.
For example, questions about the very nature
of mind, the qualities of experience, and
particular issues like the debate between
dualism and monism have been discussed in
philosophy for many centuries.
Related to philosophy of psychology are philosophical
and epistemological inquiries about clinical
psychiatry and psychopathology.
Philosophy of psychiatry is mainly concerned
with the role of values in psychiatry: derived
from philosophical value theory and phenomenology,
values-based practice is aimed at improving
and humanizing clinical decision-making in
the highly complex environment of mental health
care.
Philosophy of psychopathology is mainly involved
in the epistemological reflection about the
implicit philosophical foundations of psychiatric
classification and evidence-based psychiatry.
Its aim is to unveil the constructive activity
underlying the description of mental phenomena.
== See also ==
Philosophy of psychiatry
Philosophy of social science
== References ==
== Further reading ==
The London Philosophy Study Guide offers many
suggestions on what to read, depending on
the student's familiarity with the subject:
Philosophy of psychology.
J. Stacy Adams.
1976.
Advances in Experimental Social Psychology.
Academic Press, 1976 ISBN 0120152096, 9780120152094.
Leonard Berkowitz.
1972.
Social psychology.
Scott Foresman & Co, 1972.
Ned Block.
1980.
Readings in Philosophy of Psychology, Volume
1.
Harvard University Press, 1980.
ISBN 067474876X, 9780674748767.
Stuart C. Brown, Royal Institute of Philosophy.
1974.
Macmillan, 1974.
Original from the University of Michigan
Joseph Margolis.
2008.
Philosophy of Psychology.
Prentice-Hall foundations of philosophy series.
Prentice-Hall, 1984.
ISBN 0136643264, 9780136643265.
Ken Richardson.
2008.
Understanding psychology.
Open University Press, 1988.
ISBN 0335098428, 9780335098422.
George Botterill, Peter Carruthers.
1999.
The Philosophy of Psychology.
Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 0521559154, 9780521559157.
Craig Steven Titus.
2009.
Philosophical Psychology: Psychology, Emotions,
and Freedom.
CUA Press.
ISBN 0977310361, 9780977310364.
Jose Bermudez.
2005.
Philosophy of Psychology: A Contemporary Introduction.
Routledge.
ISBN 9780415368629.
Terence Horgan, John Tienson.
1996.
Connectionism and the Philosophy of Psychology.
MIT Press.
ISBN 0262082489, 9780262082488
== External 
links ==
Part 7 of MindPapers: Philosophy of Cognitive
Science (contains over 1,500 articles, many
with online copies)
Philosophy of Psychology
