Between Scientism and Relativism

Abstract

Because of the contextual, agentically controlled, uncertain and morally constituted nature of psychological phenomena, psychological inquiry is vulnerable to charges of scientism and relativism. These characteristics of the subject-matter of psychology and the challenges they pose for psychological inquiry are elaborated. Three approaches to conceptualizing psychological studies that might avoid these difficulties are discussed and examined critically: phenomenology, hermeneutics and neorealism. In light of these considerations, psychological inquiry might best be understood as a pluralistic set of necessarily interpretative scholarly studies, warranted by epistemic, moral and existential/experiential considerations, in addition to relevant empirical demonstrations.