Key problems for psychology as a field of knowledge

Paul B.

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Key problems for psychology as a field of knowledge

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Abstract

This essay will discuss the problems that constantly face psychology as a field of knowledge. Some fields of knowledge, notably the natural sciences such as physics, biology and chemistry are comfortable with their status and the demarcation between one another. There is only one physics… there are many psychologies. Different schools of psychology and related disciplines have problems within themselves. The school of thought that the writer of this essay derives from is Jungian analytical psychology. However, I am so radically post-Jungian that many would say that I thought my way right out of it. There are serious problems needing tackling within Jungian psychology as there are within the modern philosophy of consciousness. There are serious problems within the philosophy of consciousness between concerning the Easy Problem of Consciousness and the Hard Problem of Consciousness. The Easy Problem focuses on the processes of mental functions.

Introduction.
1. Focus of the essay.
2. Those who believe in both the easy and hard problems of consciousness.
3. Psychoanalysis and Jungian psychology.
No interesting fact about the mind,conceptually distinct from the functional facts.
1. The type-A Materialist.
2. Explaining objective mental human phenomena.
3. The analogy with gravity.
4. The problem: More than one way of explaining so-called universal human responses.
Science vs psychology.
1. Criticism by the famous philosopher Karl Popper.
2. The Freudian analysts.
3. hypothetical event: Freudian terms and Adlerian terms.
Conclusion.
Bibliography.

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[...] Finally, in this introduction, a reminder to keep in mind that this essay is about problems for psychology to establish itself as a science which is to do with problems within schools of psychology and between them. A key problem is the inability for psychology to distinguish itself effectively from social theories. In this paper we will mainly (albeit not entirely) look into the problems for psychology from within a Jungian context. PART 1 David Chalmers says that type-A materialist expresses his or her position by claiming that consciousness may exist, but only if the term "consciousness" is defined as something like "reportability", or some other functional capacity. [...]

[...] In psychology then, for the modern westerner living in the early 21st century, the healthy thing to do is a life-long and everyday critical thinking whereby one vanquishes attachments that have impacted on ones mind. One analyzes them and says to oneself for example “This is not to do with my individual psyche it is a western cultural attachment that I have allowed to impact on my mind.” OR only think this way and suffer because of a kind of hypnotic crowd psychology disease.” One applies the logic of Cartesian dualism to oneself [...]

[...] For example in psychological life we have a theory of other minds (unless one is autistic). Even in Jungian psychology where it is so often said that the psyche has no Archimedean point2 Jung nevertheless studied the psyche by studying collective material from numerous cultures from around the globe (i.e. from different times and different places).3 Hence, Jung, whilst in many ways introspective checked his own experience with an array of outer material. Psychology seeks to be a field in its own right; indeed one that is a science comparable to physics, biology and chemistry. [...]

[...] The famous philosopher of science, Karl Popper, criticized Sigmund Freuds psychoanalysis and Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology for being able to be used as explanatory for any event in life and hence un-falsifiable. This same criticism could be leveled against Jungian psychology. Here is what Popper said: most characteristic element in this situation seemed to me the incessant stream of confirmations, of observations which "verified" the theories in question; and this point was constantly emphasized by their adherents. A Marxist could not open a newspaper without finding on every page confirming evidence for his interpretation of history; not only in the news, but also in its presentation which revealed the class bias of the paper and especially of course what the paper did not say. [...]

[...] Psychology, as a field of knowledge needs to move towards a de-attached and hence objective scientific thinking. This will mean that the individual became differentiated (un-attached) from all outer phenomena. Then (as a consequence) he or she would be free from much neurosis provided that he or she then objectively studies an area of life phenomena. To the person who says that he or she would be attached to the life phenomena in-question I respond that critical distance from it is required and that this is how natural science has progressed in reality and historically. [...]

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