The Debate about the Relevance of South African Psychology – A Metatheoretical Imperative

Abstract

A recent debate about the relevance of South African psychology is reviewed with a view to discerning the metatheoretical assumptions held by the major protagonists. It is shown how a large part of the apparently substantive differences about the ‘relevance’ of psychology actually derives from metatheoretical differences about the nature of social science and of psychology. Furthermore, it is argued that an understanding of these metatheoretical differences should be an essential component of the debate about the relevance of psychology in the South African context.