ERIC Number: EJ733573
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0003-066X
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The Scientific Denial of the Real and the Dialectic of Scientism and Humanism
Ramey, Christopher H.; Chrysikou, Evangelia G.
American Psychologist, v60 n4 p346-347 May-Jun 2005
This article presents comments on "Realism, Instrumentalism, and Scientific Symbiosis: Psychological Theory as a Search for Truth and the Discovery of Solutions" by John T. Cacioppo, Gun R. Semin and Gary G. Berntson. The appeal for the unification of psychology is in fashion and Cacioppo et al.'s term "symbiosis" connotes a cooperative and communal practice that is difficult to criticize without being regarded as quarrelsome and cantankerous. As Cacioppo et al. stated, the ultimate goal for a unification in psychology should be "to approach or approximate scientific realism" (p. 221). Thus, iterative practice or not, there is no symbiosis, only a reductionistic approach with a gesture toward including positive qualities of instrumentalism. Cacioppo et al. essentially proposed a check-and-balance system for scientific realism which is the ultimate victor. Ramey and Chrysikou go on to discuss the differences between scientific realism and instrumentalism.
Descriptors: Realism, Psychology, Humanism, Humanistic Education, Interdisciplinary Approach, Scientific Principles
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
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Audience: N/A
Language: English
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