Philosophical Psychology Research Articles

The Revival of Virtue Ethics As an Ethical View

Aristotle and Plato were the chief architects of virtue ethics, but their own formulation of virtue ethics was mostly subdued with the appearance of consequentialism as well as Kantian deontology. However, modem thinkers have attempted to revive virtue ethics in its new form and in this regard the name which is popularly known is G.E.M. Anscombe. In fact Anscombe clearly indicates in what sense virtue ethics can be revived and what was wrong with the traditional virtue ethics as expounded by Aristotle and Plato. Anscombe points out three important issues for which traditional virtue ethics perhaps lost its glory. First, moral philosophy in general cannot survive without an adequate philosophy of psychology and this thing was absent in the traditional virtue ethics. Secondly, without psychological possibility the concepts of moral obligation and moral duty, the moral sense of ought to be jeopardized. Thirdly and importantly, the differences between the well-known English writers on moral philosophy from Sidgwick to the present day are of little importance. This task of this paper is to review the revival of virtue ethics.

Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis as the basis of anthropology

The existence of four directions of psychoanalysis realization in modern psychology is argued in the historical-psychological research, that is as an original method of treatment of neuroses and other mental disorders exclusively in a verbal way; as a theory of personality, that is, as a system of scientific knowledge about the formation of human character; as a systemic, often shocking, critique of Western civilization and as a new philosophy and thus a kind of worldview that sheds the light of truth on the unconscious sphere of its life. The historical way of formation of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis as a separate, biologically determined, naturally centered and culturally influential current of psychological science of the XX century is highlighted and the motivating influence of concepts and themes of B. Pascal, F. Nietzsche and especially J. Charcot is indicated on this formation, firstly as an idea and research program, then as a theory and method of psychotherapeutic practice. The exceptional importance of Freud’s creative collaboration with his older colleague Joseph Brier is emphasized, the productivity of which is confirmed by the jointly published book “The Study of Hysteria” published in 1895. It is it which initiates the expansive psychoanalytic discourse. It is noted that the idea and concept of displacement became the central core of Freudian psychology and made it possible to understand both individual works of fiction and classical works of art. It is stated that translations of selected Freud’s works into the native language were received by Ukrainian scientists only at the end of the last century, which, however, does not diminish the importance of psychoanalysis as a theoretical-empirical foundation of anthropology. Finally, based on the rich legacy of Philip Lersch, a conclusion is formulated about the prospects of a phenomenological approach to the cognition of human mental life in the context of urgent tasks of both theoretical psychology and applied, practice-oriented.

Theory in the historical progress of psychological cognition

The article analyzes the correlation between the theory and history of psychology on the basis of a concept, which is formed in the process of researching the work of the outstanding Ukrainian scientist V. A Romenets. According to the concept, psychological cognition is a historical-logical-psychological process that is carried out on an epistemological basis and runs from dualism to monism; stages of the process are ways to solve the main problem of psychology, which fixes the need to characterize the mental as subjective in view of the objective; patterns of the process illuminates the thinking of the author of the theory of mind in solving this problem. The state of theoretical psychology is critically assessed, the latter is understood as marked by the theory of mind progress of psychological cognition. The example of V. A. Romenets’ creative dialogue with his predecessors shows that the theory is evidence of the author’s extraordinary place in this process. The search for the place of man in cognition ends with the proclamation of man as a subject of cognition, a body of self-knowledge of the world, capable of comprehending an object within the limits of its thinking. In epistemology, it is substantialism, proceduralism; the principle of observation is opposed by the principle of involvement; man’s place in cognition is characterized either dualistically or monistically. The idea of the identity of thought and being means that the condition of cognition is the coincidence of the way of understanding an object with the way of its existence. The philosophy of science either denies or affirms the principle of involvement, the same thing happens in the psychology of science. Subjectocentrism in epistemology is echoed in psychology by the opposition of the subjective to the objective, overcoming this opposition generates monistic theories in both epistemology and psychology. In psychology, this is the main problem; it is accentuated by the circle of cognition that the psychologist enters into when, using his own psychic, he explores the nature of the psychic. The problem – a source of psychological knowledge, the circle – evidence of the direct presence of a psychologist in this process. Marxist psychologists solve the problem monistically, in terms of the category of practice. Solutions encounter difficulties, ideas deepen the content of the category of practice and open the possibility of new solutions to this problem. Psychologists of the post-Soviet era do not think as a category of practice and, in contrast to the activity-based, assert the subjective approach. From an epistemological point of view, this is subject-centrism, and from a historical and psychological point of view, it is a step in the opposite direction. According to V. A. Roments, the main way of practice is the act as a contradictory interaction of subjective and objective, which is engraved in the history of human self-knowledge. The dynamics of the components of the act highlights the historical and ontogenetic path of man, the essence and purpose of mental, historical levels of psychological knowledge. In the work of the scientist, psychology reaches a post-classical level of development. For classical psychology, the subjective and the objective are disproportionate entities, for non-classical – the sides of reality, for post-non-classical - the side of the human way of life. The main problem of psychology is solved in fundamentally different ways; the solutions illuminate the path of psychology from dualism to increasingly meaningful monism. Analysis of the work of V. A. Romenets shows that the progress of thinking of the psychologist expresses the historical progress of psychology, which occurs when the way of thinking coincides with the way of being mental. The idea of the identity of thinking and being is illustrated, which logically completes the search for the place of man in cognition in epistemology. The inherent explanation of the nature of the mental circle of cognition expands to the limits of the existence of the mental, and the monistic solution to the basic problem of psychology no longer stands in the way. V. A. Romenets creates a theory of the way of human existence at the historical and ontogenetic level, it is actual to characterize the way of human existence at the individual level on the basis of category of being in the subject-practical content, to implement the anthropological approach in psychology and overcome the gap between theoretical and practical branches of this science.

Dancing With Non-duality for Healing Through the Shadows of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed torrents of global suffering at a devastating scale, necessitating a strong response to alleviating suffering. This paper begins with noting that the conventional approach to suffering in North America is to be positive and not to be negative. The paper summarily explores the philosophy of positive psychology underlying the first- and the second-wave of positive psychology, commenting on the evolution from dualism and a binary conceptualization in the first wave (PP 1.0) to a non-dualism of integrating binaries in the second wave (PP 2.0). PP 2.0’s enhanced therapeutic efficacy is noted for its non-dual framework. The paper then explores and suggests a different conceptualization possibility of non-duality,fundamental non-duality, that is related to but distinct from the one in PP 2.0. A case is made that fundamental non-duality has a radical possibility of therapeutic efficacy. Being consistent with the philosophy of non-duality, further suggestions are made that non-duality of PP 2.0 and fundamental non-duality can be therapeutically deployed together for greatest efficacy. The exploration contained in the paper is largely philosophical, arts-based, and autobiographical, creating an enacted and lived experience of applying theory to practice.

Emotional Correctness

First, I offer an analytic summary of the 10 main theses in Stephen Asma and Rami Gabriel’s (2019) The Emotional Mind. Second, I raise an objection about Asma and Gabriel’s assumption that the emotions have phenomenal sameness in individual psychology, across species and cultures. Third, I focus and develop a critique of Asma and Gabriel’s objections to evaluating emotions in terms of “correctness,” “aptness,” or “fittingness.” I argue that analyzing correctness is an essential task of normative inquiry in psychology, psychiatry, and moral philosophy, and it is perfectly intellectually respectable and compatible with most genealogies of the emotions.

Tarihsel ve Teorik Açıdan Adalet Dairesinin Uzun Formu

In this study or article, we will try to analyze and evaluate the long form of circle of justice which is the basic, importance and central concept of different kinds of politics that belong to Islamic political thought in terms of historical background and theoretical or philosophical principles from beginning to end of sixteenth century of Ottoman period. From a historical perspective, firstly, we will try to determine the first book that the long form of circle of justice is found in it and afterwards we will try to show how the long form introduced into Islamic political thought externally. Secondly, we will try to explain and show the different and several Islamic political works that discuss and explain the long form and its main elements as well as the different and several states and regions in which they were written. From a theoretical or philosophical perspective, firstly, we will try to analyze the basic principles of the long form which is the central concept of political thought. Secondly, we will try to show how its principles are derived from the classical psychological and ethical philosophy and view of nature as well as cosmology and metaphysics of Messai philosophy that can be found acceptable in the extent of Neo Platonic philosophy. Finally, we will try to explain the kind of political thought, state and society that the long form belongs them and the meaning, importance and function of the long form in the structure and order of the state and society.

Radical Empiricism, Neutral Monism, and the Elements of Mind

AbstractNeutral monism is the view that both ‘mind’ and ‘matter’ are grounded in a more fundamental form of reality that is intrinsically neither mental nor material. It has often been treated as an odd fringe theory deserving of at most a footnote in the broader philosophical debates. Yet such attitudes do a grave disservice to its sophistications and significance for late nineteenth and early twentieth-century philosophy of mind and psychology. This paper sheds light on this neglected view by situating it within broader historical monist debates about the mind and bringing attention to one of its central internal disputes regarding ‘mental chemistry’. By taking a closer look at how Ernst Mach, William James, and Bertrand Russell address the question of whether and how our mental episodes are composed of more basic elements, it highlights deep differences among their conceptions of the fundamental ‘neutral stuff’ and its relations to ‘mind’ and ‘matter’.

On Uncertainty of Mental Concepts: From the Viewpoint of Wittgenstein’s Philosophy of Psychology

In this paper, we discuss an uncertainty of mental concepts. In the application of mental concepts, we often face disagreement. For example, observing a behavior, some person judges he/she is sad, but others do not. Surprisingly, in his Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology, Wittgenstein says that there is an uncertainty of criteria in the mental concepts. In other words, he thinks disagreement in judgements about other’s mental state originates from conceptual dimension rather than empirical dimension. (e.g., differences in context and information quantity) The goal of our study is to clarify why mental concepts have this kind of uncertainty.

К 100 ЛЕТИЮ М. С. РОГОВИНА – ИНТЕРВЬЮ С УЧЕНИКОМ

The article is dedicated to the centenary of the birth of the outstanding Russian scientist, psychologist, philosopher, historian, methodologist of psychological science Mikhail Semenovich Rogovin (1921-1993). This article summarizes the research carried out in recent years by the students and followers of M. S. Rogovin and devoted to the analysis of his contribution to the development of many urgent problems of psychological science – philosophy of psychology, methodology of psychology, medical psychology, history of psychology, general psychology, etc. The special significance of M. S. Rogovin’s ideas and researches, who were decades ahead of their time and are currently relevant for the development and solution of many problems of domestic and world psychological science. Given the special significance of the occasion, the article presents an interview with one of the students of M. S. Rogovin – doctor of psychology, professor V. A. Mazilov. The genre of the interview made it possible to assess the personality of the scientist, to determine his place in the history of Russian and world psychology, to assess the contribution of the research carried out by M. S. Rogovin, in solving many topical and to this day theoretical, methodological, experimental and other problems of the psychological science. The interview makes it possible to better understand why in relation to M. S. Rogovin's epithets are more than true, characterizing him as an outstanding scientist, philosopher of psychology, methodologist and historian of psychology, a man of science. The personality and scientific activity of M. S. Rogovin is of particular importance for Yaroslavl School of Psychology, since the most productive time of his scientific work – the seventies and eighties of the XX century – were at the Faculty of Psychology of Yaroslavl State University

Carving out a space for reflective nostalgia through the History and Philosophy of Psychology

Carving out a space for reflective nostalgia through the History and Philosophy of Psychology

СРАВНИТЕЛЬНЫЙ АНАЛИЗ ПСИХОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ ИДЕЙ В. И. НЕСМЕЛОВА И С. Л. РУБИНШТЕЙНА

The problem of the study was determined by the poor coverage of the religious and philosophical stage in the development of Russian psychology. A large number of studies in the field of the history of psychology, restoring historical justice and referring to the works of religious philosophers and psychologists of the late 19th – early 20th centuries, do not show the continuity of views with modern scientific concepts. The article presents for comparison the psychological ideas of the outstanding representative of religious and philosophical psychology, Viktor Nesmelov, and the representative of Soviet psychology, the author of fundamental works on general psychology, Sergei Rubinstein. As an object of research, we used the main psychological categories that are most often found in the works of both authors. The study uses the method of the cluster analysis of the semantic content of the psychological categories «Consciousness», «Self-awareness», «Personality» and «Worldview» in the works of the authors. As a result of the analysis, a successive connection of ideas in the field of the unity of the human psyche was established, which is considered by the both authors in the integrated manner, in the unity of the mental and physical. In the works of the Soviet scientist and religious philosopher, a person is endowed with a free-rational will and moral values, consciousness is viewed as a continuous and integral process that ensures the unity of mental activity. However, spiritual values are being replaced by social morality in the Soviet period, which emphasizes the reliance on the activity approach. The practical significance of the results is determined by the presence of a scientific need to identify the patterns of continuity of ideas in personality psychology and the search for new foundations for methodology when constructing personality theories that explain all the variety of mental phenomena.

Ф.Т. Михайлов: обращение как культурно-психологический феномен

The paper analyzes the concept of ‘appeal’, the introduction of which is related to one of the fundamental contributions of F.T. Mikhailov into philosophy and theoretical psychology. The historical and biographical contexts of F.T. Mikhailov is revealed, behind which stands the classical dialectical tradition of understanding man and his creation — culture. Long-term work in psychology and contacts with psychologists made it possible to implement this tradition in a new way in the course of comprehending the foundations of psychological knowledge within the framework of cultural-historical and activity approaches. From the point of view of F.T. Mikhailov, culture appears as a sphere of embodied appeals of people (human communities) to each other. The logic of these appeals is seen both as the process of creating culture in history and as its assimilation in the course of individual development. Individual appeal, aimed at ‘universal’ response, is at the heart of any human action. It is in the targeted streams of mutual appeals, ‘call-responses’ (not only verbal) expressing the people’s vital need of each other, that a human community is born within which people become the “natural organs of life”.

Некоторые аспекты логико-философского осмысления истории на предмет научности

In our opinion, the relevance of the logical and philosophical understanding of history for its scientific character cannot be doubted. The fact is that most of the modern interethnic and interethnic conflicts (including paramilitary ones) are «mixed up», very often, on the «historical component». Some ethnic groups, especially under the influence of propaganda, are sure that they inhabited this territory «earlier» than others (and vice versa), and therefore have more rights to it; they have a reason to be a «titular nation»; they must have certain privileges; their religious views must be endowed with the status of an official ideology, and so on. To substantiate their claims, leaders or representatives of such national, ethnic or religious formations very often resort to «scientific argumentation», while referring to the research of certain historians as «truth» proved by «historical science». And this, in turn, can lead to sad consequences. It is enough to recall the «scientific research» of the ideologists of the Third Reich, adherents of Mussolini’s ideas or some Islamist theorists. In this regard, the question arises as to how much one can trust the research of historians? Is history able to provide guaranteed true scientific knowledge about the past? In general, is history a science? That is why the purpose of our article is a logical and philosophical analysis of history in order to find out whether it is really a science. The methodology of our research has become traditional logical and philosophical methods: analysis, synthesis, elements of deduction, the method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete, as well as the method of unity of the historical and logical. The scientific novelty of this article is that the author justifies the fact that history is not a science from a logical and philosophical position. The results obtained in the course of the research carried out in the article have a certain theoretical and practical significance. Their theoretical significance lies in the fact that they can be used by scientists in conducting scientific research in the field of philosophy of science, philosophy of history, political science, sociology, social psychology, ethnography, religious studies and others. In addition, they can be used by practitioners (politicians, public and religious figures, heads of state and public organizations, etc.) in resolving social conflicts and solving other socially significant tasks.

Scientific support of border activity

The object of this research is the border activity, while the subject is the science of border activity – borderology. The article consists of five sections. The first section views border activity as a system of preventive (border prevention and deterrence), security and control (border patrol, border search), and defense-militant measures (special activity, combat activity, operational actions). The second and third sections give detail description to these measures, as well as the typical stages of the cycles of activity. The fourth section is dedicated to description of the structure of borderology – the system of knowledge on ensuring border security, state c of border organizations, preparation and conduct of border activity, and its all-round provision. The fifth section provides a systemic formulation of principles of border activity. Within the framework of development of the concept of “border management system”, the author considers the border activity as a system of measures aimed at ensuring national security in the borders. The science of border activity includes the following disciplines: border art (border policy, border operational art, border tactics), border history, border statistics, mathematical theory of managing border security, legal framework of border security and border activity, philosophy of border security, psychology and sociology of border activity, theory of border training and education, theories of all-round support of border activity, theory of development, application of technical and special means of border activity.   

Study of personality accentuations based on a three-factor dichotomic typological approach

A significant problem for practical psychologists is development of own methods necessary for particular and special cases of character research. This requires technologies for creating psychological diagnostic tools that might help to extend, streamline and show a complete picture of the personality, as well as a reliable system for validating the designed instrumentation. Practical psychology needs set forth a social mandate for the development of a classification technology highlighting psychological characteristics of individuals. Purpose of the research: creation of a new methodology for obtaining and measuring information concerning personality accentuations. Methods: a three-factor integrated dichotomic basic approach is used in modelling personality accentuations types and varieties of temperament. The respondents were represented by 187 students of Vologda State University. The research was carried out using the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) test and Holland’s Professional Test Guide. The correlation analysis was used as well in data processing. The validation of the new methodology for measuring personality accentuations was made in terms of constructive validity. The research results extend the scientific concept defining the role and significance of the processes structuring the personality-specific psychological information, based on the use of a dichotomic three-factor basic approach which in turn will contribute to the development of theoretical psychologist’s creative thinking. In addition, the results are aimed at obtaining complete and ordered measurement information on personality accentuations based on the application of the integrated-dichotomic three-factor basic typological approach that is of particular importance for the formation of practical psychologist’s theoretical reasoning. The research results can be used for the purpose of extension of the psychodiagnostic training content.

F.A. Hayek on the Political Economy of Endogenous Preferences: An Historical Overview and Contemporary Assessment

In this paper, we analyse Hayek’s views on endogenous preferences. Perhaps surprisingly in the light of his remarks that economists ought to take people’s preferences as given, there are several places in Hayek’s economics and political economy where preference endogeneity plays a significant role. We begin by documenting those cases, providing an historical overview of Hayek’s views on preference endogeneity. We then go on to argue that in his work on theoretical psychology Hayek provides an account of the causal mechanisms through which people’s preferences can change in response to their social context. Finally, we assess Hayek’s views on preference endogeneity in the light of more recent work on the topic in behavioural economics, before going on to consider what Hayek’s analysis can add to contemporary debates in political economy.

Metaphysics and Fundamentals of Transcendental Psychology Approach

The Transcendental Psychology Approach to the study of perception has been developed by A.I. Mirakyan at the Psychological Institute (Moscow, Russia) about 30 years ago. This article considers the results of theoretical and experimental investigations and provides a historical overview of the approach’s development. Started with the investigations of constancy in perception, it went beyond the traditional Product Basis Paradigm (relying on perceptual features for finding perceptual mechanisms) into Philosophical Metaphysics of “nothing” and “something” concepts for revealing the form-generating principles as fundamental axiomatics of the Transcendental Psychology Approach. Several principles were developed and justified: structure-process anisotropy, spatial-temporal discreteness, the formation of anisotropic (particularly, symmetric) relations, the coexistence of alternatives, and some others. Principles are explanatory for the regulations of sensory-perceptual processes and are the direct object of further specification and experimental verification using hypothetical transcendental models of perceptual structures. The theory suggests that the internal mechanisms of these models would not naturally manifest themselves in experiments within the functional range of perception, and to see the phenomena, it is necessary to bring the perceptual system out of its natural functional range. The form-generating processes are named adiaphorous in the sense that they specifically generate new structures and forms, regardless of the characteristics of products used and produced in the processes. In general, it is possible to speak about the class of so-called structurally-generative processes that are specific to the process of transition between the system-generating structures studied by different hierarchically interrelated sciences. The proposed two-staged qualitative model of the perceptual process consists of two substantially different parts: the direct sensory perception and a process of form designation or sensory name assignment. Further investigations of structurally-generative processes seem likely to shed light on the mechanisms of brain function and to contribute strategically to new directions in philosophical psychology and neuroscience.

Recent movements in theoretical psychology in Japan

The purpose of this article is to report on the status quo in Japanese theoretical psychology and introduce some of the recent theoretical debates relating to psychology and related fields in Japan. Theoretical psychology has not been very active in Japanese psychology so far. However, despite that, very important studies on theoretical issues in psychology have been conducted in the last 20 years, such as theoretical debate concerning “new forms of psychology”; methodological arguments about qualitative approaches, narrative psychology, and clinical psychology; detailed studies on the history of Japanese modern psychology; and the creation of new interdisciplinary fields of research. At present, Japanese psychology seems to be a collection of small diverse paradigms. I conclude that more theoretical and philosophical arguments are needed in order to avoid narrowing psychologists’ view on humanity and to pursue the true and comprehensive understanding of the object.

Theorizing in psychology: From the critique of a hyper-science to conceptualizing subjectivity

It is emphasized that theoretical psychology is based on the practice of theorizing. After presenting and challenging some ideas about theories, three tasks for theoretical psychologists are discussed: theorizing as critique refers to describing psychology as a hyper-science that inflates its methodological and technical activities in order to conceal its lack of a natural–scientific foundation. Theorizing as reconstruction is an activity that seeks to make sense of history, culture, society, power, money, and politics in the development of the discipline and subjectivity. This task also traces the elements that have led to psychology’s difficulties. Theorizing as creation means developing theories that are able to make sense of psychological knowledge. It is suggested that a theory of subjectivity is needed that draws on not only the psychological sciences but also the psychological humanities. Finally, it is argued that theorizing remains a duty of psychological work.

Theoretical dialogue and interdisciplinary relevance: Thirty years of Theory & Psychology

The 30th year of publication of Theory & Psychology has coincided with local and global disruption and upheaval. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone, and in so doing has reemphasized (and in some instances reinforced and exacerbated) systemic inequities. The year has also been characterized by a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement and antiracism protests, as well as counter protests from the far right. There has been a dramatic upsurge in public disagreement about knowledge claims in what some have been calling a post-truth world. Given this, it is worth reexamining the role of theoretical psychology in the discipline and beyond. The occasion of the 30-year anniversary of Theory & Psychology is used to reaffirm the vibrancy and relevance of theoretical work in psychology. The question is raised to what degree we have an obligation to make our theoretical work intelligible beyond the specific scholarly communities engaged in work similar to our own. Ten articles featured in this anniversary issue are introduced.