Danziger Psychological Knowledge by Experts 1995
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Cuadernos A rgentinos de
Historia de la Psicologa
Vol. 1 - N 1/2
1995
Facultad de Ciencias Humanas
Universidad Nacional de San Luis
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Cuadernos Argentinos de Historia de la Psicologa es una publicacin subsidiada por la Facultad de Ciencias Humanas de la Universidad Nacional de San Luis,
Argentina, que aparecer en un volumen anual, en una sola edicin, en el segundo
semestre de cada ao.
Cuadernos Argentinos de Historia de la Psicologa, adhiere a las conclusiones delTaller Internacional sobre Publicaciones Cientficas en Amrica Latina desarrollado
en Guadalajara, Mxico, en noviembre de 1994, sosteniendo la necesidad de que las
publicaciones cientficas de la regin sean verdaderamente internacionales, ya que
tales publicaciones constituyen "testimonio importante de la produccin cientfica" y
"constituyen canales privilegiados de la cooperacin cientfica entre los pases".
En tal sentido, Cuadernos Argentinos de Historia de la Psicologa publicaartculos en castellano o ingls, tanto predominantemente tericos como
predominantemente empricos, relacionados con la historia de la psicologa y temas
afines, que demuestren un trabajo de investigacin original.
Las colaboraciones deben dirigirse al Editor por triplicado, y las mismas sernsometidas a la consideracin de dos rbitros annimos. A tal fin, en los mauscritos no
deber figurar el nombre del autor o autores, los cuales debern ser incluidos en hoja
aparte junto con el ttulo del trabajo. Asimismo, el/los autor/es debern realizar todos
los esfuerzos para que los trabajos no incluyan elementos que permitan su
identificacin.
Cuadernos Argentinos de Historia de la Psicologa is published by the Faculty ofHuman Sciences of the National University of San Luis, Argentina. The Journal will
be published once a year in the second semester.
Cuadernos Argentinos de Historia de la Psicologa endorse the conclusions ofthe International Workshop on Scientific Publications in Latin America, held in
Guadalajara, Mexico, in November 1994, and maintains that scientific publications inLatin American must reach international features, because such international
publications are "an important evidence of the scientific production" as well as a
"privileged way for the scientific cooperation between the countries".
Hence, Cuadernos Argentinos de Historia de la Psicologa will publish empiricaland theoretical articles, both in Spanish or English, concerning History of Psychology
and related fields, and based on an original research.
Manuscripts should be submitted to the Editor in triplicate for the masked review.
Each copy should include a separate title page with authors names and affiliations,
and these should not appear anywhere else on the manuscript. Authors should make
every effort to see that the manuscript itself contains no clues to their identities.
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Universidad Nacional de San Luis
Facultad de Ciencias Humanas
D e c ano: G e r m n A r i a s
V i c e - D e c ano: H u g o K l a p p e n b a c h
Se c r e t ar i a A c ad m i c a : N e l l y M a i n e r o d e G r e c o
Se c r e t ar i o de C i e nc i a y T c n i c a : A n g e l R o d r i g u e z K a u t h
Se c r e t ar i o G e ne r a l : J o s L u i s M a r t n e z
Se c r e t ar i a A dm i n i s t r a t i va : M a r t a S a n s d e U h r l a n d t
( E l p r o y e c t o d e c r e a c i n d e l o s C u a d e r n o s A r g e n t i n o s d eH i s t o r i a d e l a P s i c o l o g a f u e a p r o ba d o e n 1 9 9 4 , s i e n d o D e ca n a :
M a r t a T i v i r o l l i ; V i c e - D e c a n a : A n a M a r a C o r t i ; S e c r e t a r i aA c a d m i c a : L e t i c i a M a r n ; P r o - S e c r e t a r i a A c a d m i c a : S u s a n aBenosa ; S e c r e t a r i a G e n e r a l : M a r a E l e n a Y u l i ; S e c r e t a r i a d e
C i e n c i a y T c n i c a : V i o l e t a G u y o t ) .
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I .S .S .N. 0328-364 X
D iagramac in y Compag inac in
Mar a Ang l ica Camargo
Diseo de Tapa
G e r m n R o q ue A r i a s
Responsab le de Impres in
Hc tor Moyano
Hecho e l deps i to que marca la Ley 11723
Impreso en la Argen t ina - Pr in ted in Argen t ine
(c ) Jun io de 1995 - Edi tor ia l Univers i tar ia San
Luis
Av . Ejrc i to de lo s Andes 950 - San Luis -
Repblica Argentina
Editado por:
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Cuader nos A r gent i nos deH i stor i a de l a P si col oga
Vol . 1 - N 1 /2 - 1995
Editor - Director:
Hugo KLAPPENBACHUniver s idad Nac iona l de San Luis , Argent ina
Secretar io:
Ramn SANZ FERRAMOLAUniver s idad Nac iona l de San Luis , Argent ina
Consejo Asesor - Advisory Board
A L A R C O N , R e y n a l d o , Unive rs idad Nac iona l Mayor de SanM a r c o s , L i m a , P e r
ARDILA, Rubn , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e C o l o m b i a , B o g o t .
A S C O L A N I , A l b e r t o , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e R o s a r i o ,A r g e n t i n a .
A S H , M i t c h e l l , U n i v e r s i t y o f I o w a , U S A .
A S S O U N , P a u l - L a u r e n t , U n i v e r s i t P a r i s V I I , F r a n c e .
B E C E R R A B A T N , M a r c e l a , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e S a n L u i s .
BORRUAT, Mar ta , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e S a n L u i s .
B R I N G M A N N , W o l f a n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f S o u t h A l a b a m a , U S A .
BONANO, Lu i s , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e T u c u m n , A r g e n t i n a .
BROZEK, Joseph , L e h i g U n i v e r s i t y , U S A .
C A P A R R S , A n t o n i o , U n i v e r s i d a d d e B a r c e l o n a , E s p a a .
C A R P I N T E R O , H e l i o , U n i v e r s i d a d C o m p l u t e n s e , M a d r i d , E s p a a .
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DAGFAL, Carmen , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e S a n L u i s .
DANZIGER, Kur t , Y o r k U n i v e r s i t y , T o r o n t o , C a n a d a .
G A L L E S , C a r l o s , U n i v e r s i d a d d e B u e n o s A i r e s , A r g e n t i n a .
G E N T I L E , A n t o n i o , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e R o s a r i o , A r g e n t i n a .
G E U T E R , U l f r i e d , B e r l i n , D e u t s c h l a n d .
G O M E S P E N N A , A n t o n i o , U n i v e r s i d a d e d a R i o d e J a n e i r o ,B r a z i l .
G O T T H E L F , R e n , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e C u y o , A r g e n t i n a .
G U Y O T , V i o l e t a , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e S a n L u i s , A r g e n t i n a .
K O H N L O N C A R I C A , A l f r e d o , U n i v e r s i d a d d e B u e n o s A i r e s ,A r g e n t i n a .
LEON, Ramn, U n i v e r s i d a d C a y e t a n o H e r e d i a , L i m a , P e r .
LCK, Helmut , F e r n U n i v e r s i t t , H a g e n , D e u t s c h l a n d .
M A N S U R , G e r a r d o , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e C r d o b a ,A r g e n t i n a .
M A R I N C E V I C , J u a n , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e S a n L u i s ,A r g e n t i n a .
M A S S I M I , M a r i n a , U n i v e r s i d a d e d e S o P a u l o , B r a z i l .
M O R A L E S D E B A R B E N Z A , C l a r i b e l , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d eS a n L u i s , A r g e n t i n a .
M O C H I U T T I , J u a n , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e C r d o b a ,A r g e n t i n a .
PAVESI , Pab lo , U n i v e r s i d a d d e B u e n o s A i r e s , A r g e n t i n a .
P E I R , J o s M a r a , U n i v e r s i d a d d e V a l e n c i a , E s p a a .
PONCE DAZ, Car los , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l M a y o r d e S a nM a r c o s , L i m a , P e r .
R E U C H L I N , M a u r i c e , U n i v e r s i t R e n D e s c a r t e s - P a r i s V - ,P a r i s , F r a n c e .
R O B I N S O N , D a n i e l , G e o r g e t o w n U n i v e r s i t y , Wa s h i n g t o n , U S A .
R O D R G U E Z , V c t o r , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e C r d o b a ,A r g e n t i n a .
R O D R I G U E Z K A U T H , A n g e l , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e S a n L u i s ,A r g e n t i n a .
ROSS, Barbara , U n i v e r s i t y o f M a s s a c h u s e t t s , U S A . ROSSI , Luc a , U n i v e r s i d a d d e B u e n o s A i r e s , A r g e n t i n a .
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R O U D I N E S C O , E l i s a b e t h , P a r i s , F r a n c e .
RUIZ , R icardo , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e L a P l a t a , A r g e n t i n a .
S M I T H , R o g e r , L a n c a s t e r U n i v e r s i t y , U n i t e d K i n g d o m .
S O K A L , M i c h a e l , Wo r c e s t e r P o l y t e c h n i c I n s t i t u t e , U S A .
S P R U N G , L o t h a r , H u m b o l d t U n i v e r s i t t , B e r l i n , D e u t s c h l a n d.
V A N R A P P A R D , H a n s , V r i j e U n i v e r s i t e i t A m s t e r d a m , T h eNe the r lands .
V A N S T R I E N , P i e t e r , U n i v e r s i t y o f G r o n i n g e n , T h e N e t h e r l a n d s .
V E Z Z E T T I , H u g o , U n i v e r s i d a d d e B u e n o s A i r e s , A r g e n t i n a .
V I D A L , F e r n a n d o , U n i v e r s i t d e G e n e v a , S w i t z e r l a n d
V I L A N O V A , A l b e r t o , U n i v e r s i d a d N a c i o n a l d e M a r d e l P l a t a ,A r g e n t i n a .
W O O D W A R D , W i l l i a m , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w H a m p s h i r e , U S A .
W O Z N I A K , R o b e r t , B r y n M a w r C o l l e g e , U S A .
P ar a s us c r i pc i n anua l ( u$s 30 ) , d i r i g i r s e a :
C ua d e r no s A r g e n t i no s d e H i s t o r i a d e l a P s i c o l o g a
F ac u l t ad de C i e nc i a s H um anas
U ni ve r s i dad N ac i ona l de San L u i s
A vda . E j r c i t o de l o s A nde s 950
5700 - San L u i s , A r ge nt i na
F ax: 54 - 652 - 30224
E - M ai l : hk l appe n@ uns l . e du . ar
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SUMARIO - TABLE OF CONTENTS
ARTICULOS - PAPERS
La t rayector ia in ic ia l de Enr ique P ichon-Riv ire :
ps iqu iatr a , ps icoanl i s i s y poes a .
[Enr ique P ichon Riv i r e ' s f i r s t in te l lec tua l
deve lopment : Psychia t ry , Psychoana lys i s and
Poe t ry . ]
Hugo Vezzet t i , Univer s idad de Buenos
Aires -Conice t , Argent ina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 13
Woman in the His tory of German-speaking
Psychology: the mode l o f Kurt Lewin 's research
group in Ber l in .
[La muje r en la h i s to r ia de la ps ico log a en lengua
a lemana : e l mode lo de l g rupo de inves t igac in de
Kur t Lewin en Ber l n ]
Helga Sp rung, Fre i Univer s i t t , Ber l in ;
Lothar Sprung, Humbold t Univer s i t t , Ber l in ;
Wil l iam Woodward , Univer s i ty of New Hampshi r e ,
USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 61
El d i lema de la ps ico log a la t inoamer icana .
[The La t in-Amer ican Psychology d i lemma. ]
Alber to Vilanova, Univer s idad Nac iona l de Mar de lP la ta , Argent ina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 81
Knowledge and pract ice o f Psychology in
Civ i l i zat ion Projec t s d irec ted at Braz i l ian
Ind ians in the 17th , 18th and 19th centur ies .
[Conoc imiento y prc t ica de ps ico log a en los
proyec tos c iv i l i za tor ios d i r ig idos a los ind ios de l
Bras i l en los s ig los XVI I , XVI I I y XIX. ]
Marina Massimi, Univer s idade de S o Paulo ,Bras i l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 101
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No tas para una breve h is tor ia cr t i ca de la
ps ico log a soc ia l .
[Notes towards a b r ie f c r i t i ca l H is tory of Soc ia l
Psychology . ]
Angel Rodrguez Kauth, Univer s idad Nac iona l de
San Luis , Argent ina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 133
Enzo Bonaventura and Appl ied Psychology .
[Enzo Bonaventura y la ps ico log a ap l icada . ]
S imonetta Gori Savel l in i ;
Cater ina Pr imi , Univer s i t Degl i S tud i d i F i r enz i ,I t a l i a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 151
Ps ico log a y campo mdico . Argent ina: aos 30 .
[Psychology and medica l f i e ld . The Republ icArgent ine in the th i r t i e s ]
Hugo Klappenbach, Univer s idad Nac iona l de San
Luis , Argent ina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 159
La Ps ico log a de lo moral en torno a Emi l io Mira
y Lpez en la Espaa de los aos 3 0 .
[Mora l Psychology a round the f igure of Emi l io
Mira y Lpez in Spa in dur ing th e th i r t i e s . ]
Esteban Prez Delgado;
Mara Vicenta Mestre, Univer s idad de Va lenc ia ,
Espaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 227
The product ion of Psycholog ica l Knowledge by
expert s .
[La producc in de l conoc imiento ps ic log ico por
par te de especi l is tas]
Kurt Danzi ger , York Univer s i ty , Canada . . . . p . 259
TESTIMONIOS - TESTIMONIES
Test imonio autob iogrf ico .
[Autobiographica l t e s t imony]
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Horacio Rimoldi , CIIPME, CONICET,Argent ina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 275
DOCUMENTOS ORIGINALES
ORIGINAL SOURCES
Presentac in de la di ser tac in de V irey acerca
de l sa lvaje de l Aveyron .
[ In troduct ion to the Virey s di s ser tat ion on the
Aveyron s wi ld ch i ld . ]
Pablo Paves i , Univer s idad de Buenos A i r es ,
Argent ina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p . 301
Diser tac in sobre un joven n io encontrado en
los bosques de l Departamento de l Aveyron . [ ]
[D isse r ta t ion on the young boy found in the
Aveyron Depar tment s woods . ]
J . J . V irey , F r anc ia , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 314
Disser tat ion sur une j eune enfant t rouv dans le s
for t s de le Department de l 'Aveyron . . . . . p . 315
LIBROS - BOOKS
Resea de Helmut Lck y Rudol f Mi l ler , Rudol f
(Eds ) , I l lus t r ie r te Gesch ich te der Psychologie
[His tor ia i lus t rada de la ps ico log a] y de John
Popples tone y Marion White Mc Pherson , An
i l lus t ra ted His tory of Amer ican Psychology . Josef Brozek, Lehig Univer s i ty (USA) . . . . . . . p . 403
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Resea de Reynaldo Alarcn , El pensamien to
ps ico lg ico de Wal ter Blumenfe ld .
Hugo Klappenbach, Univer s idad Nac iona lde San Luis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 406
Resea de El izabeth Roudinesco , Lacan . Esbozo
de una v ida , h i s tor ia de un s i s tema de
pensamiento.
Andrea Ferrero, Univer s idad Nac iona lde San Luis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 409
Resea de Rubn Ard i la (Ed) , Ps icologa en
Colombia . Contex to soc ia l e h i s tr ico .
Hugo Klappenbach, Univer s idad Nac iona lde San Luis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 412
Resea de Hel io Carp in tero , His tor ia de la Psicologa en Espaa.
Ramn Sanz Ferramola, Univer s idad Nac iona lde San Luis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 415
Resea de Alberto V i lanova , Contr ibuc iones a la
ps ico log a c l n ica . Algunos apor tes t er icos de
ps ic logos notables .
Hugo Klappenbach, Univer s idad Nac iona l
de San Luis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 421
Resea de Anton io Gomes Penna, Freud, as
c inc ias humanas e a f i losof ia .
Andrea Ferrero, Univer s idad Nac iona lde San Luis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 423
Reuniones Cient f icas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 429
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Cuadernos Argen t inos de
His tor ia de la Ps ico log a
1995 , 1 (1 /2) , pp . 259- 273
THE PRODUCTION OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE
BY EXPERTS
Kurt Danzi ger
York Univers i ty , Toronto , Canad
Abstract
T h i s p a p e r a p p l i e s t o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f m o d e r n p s y c h o l o g y s o m e p e r s p e c t i v e s t h a t h a v e b e e n o p e n e d u p b y r e c e n t w o r k
i n t h e s o c i o l o g y , h i s t o r y , a n d p h i l o s o p h y o f s c i e n c e . S u c h p e r s p e c t i v e s l e d t o a r e c o g n i t i o n o f t h e f u n d a m e n t a l r o l e p l a y e d b y t w o f a c t o r s i n t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l k n o w l e d g ep r o d u c t i o n d u r i n g t h e e a r l y d a y s o f m o d e r n p s y c h o l o g y : t h en e e d t o p r o d u c e t h e k i n d o f k n o w l e d g e t h a t a p p e a r s t o b e
p r a c t i c a l l y u s e f u l t o c e r t a i n p o t e n t i a l c o n s u m e r s o f t h ek n o w l e d g e o u t s i d e t h e d i s c i p l i n e , a n d t h e n e e d t o i m i t a t et h e p r a c t i c e s o f t h e m o r e p r e s t i g i o u s s c i e n c e s .
T h e n t h e a r t i c l e s a n a l y z e d t h e e d u c a t i o n a l a d m i n i s t r a t i v e s u p p o r t o f p s y c h o l o g i c a l k n o w l e d g e a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h ec e n t u r y , a n d s u p p o s e t h a t i n t h e f u t u r e p s y c h o l o g y w i l l c h a n g e o n l y i n s o f a r a s i t s s o c i a l a l l i a n c e s c h a n g e . H e n c e ,
e a c h v a r i e t y o f p s y c h o l o g i c a l k n o w l e d g e w i l l h a v e i t s o w na p p r o p r i a t e f i e l d o f a p p l i c a t i o n a n d i t s o w n l i m i t a t i o n s .
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Resumen
E l p r e s e n t e a r t c u l o p a r t e d e l a c o n s i d e r a c i n d e a l g u n a s p e r s p e c t i v a s a b i e r t a s e n l o s c a m p o s d e l a s o c i o l o g a ,h i s t o r i a y f i l o s o f a d e l a c i e n c i a , l a s c u a l e s p e r m i t e nr e c o n o c e r e l p a p e l j u g a d o p o r d o s f a c t o r e s e n l a
p r o d u c c i n d e l c o n o c i m i e n t o p s i c o l g i c o : l a n e c e s i d a d d e p r o d u c i r u n t i p o d e c o n o c i m i e n t o t i l a d m i n i s t r a t i v a m e n t e ,e s d e c i r d e u t i l i d a d p a r a p o t e n c i a l e s c o n s u m i d o r e s e x t e r n o sa l a d i s c i p l i n a , y l a n e c e s i d a d d e i m i t a r l o s m o d e l o s d e l a sc i e n c i a s d e m a y o r p r e s t i g i o .
E l a r t c u l o a n a l i z a t a m b i n e l s o p o r t e e n e l c a m p o d e l aa d m i n i s t r a c i n e d u c a t i v a d e l c o n o c i m i e n t o p s i c l o g i c o .
A p l i c a d o e n p e r s p e c t i v a , s e s o s t i e n e q u e l a p s i c o l o g a s l o
c a m b i a r e n e l f u t u r o , e n l a m e d i d a e n q u e s e m o d i f i c a n s u sa l i a n z a s s o c i a l e s , y a q u e c a d a v a r i e d a d d e l c o n o c i m i e n t o p s i c o l g i c o a d q u i e r e s u p r o p i a p e r t i n e n c i a y a p l i c a c i n ,c o m o a s t a m b i n s u s p r o p i a s l i m i t a c i o n e s .
Producers of sc ien t i f ic knowledge never work as
independent ind iv iduals bu t a re enmeshed in a ne twork
of soc ia l re la t ionsh ips . What they in i t ia l ly produce is
no t so much knowledge as knowledge c la ims . Such
cla ims are on ly t rans formed in to knowledge by an
acceptance process tha t involves a number of ind iv iduals , rev iewers , readers , tex t -book wr i te rs e tc . ,
tha t share cer ta in norms and in teres ts . Natura l ly , the
ant ic ipa t ion of th is acceptance process af fec ts the
product ion of knowledge f rom the beginning .
This soc ia l sys tem for the product ion of a cer ta in
k ind of knowledge is a lways in process of change .
There are fash ions in research as in so many o ther
a reas . What was acceptab le yes terday is no longer
acceptab le to -day and v ice versa . Beneath the r ipp les of
fash ion , however , there are deeper cur ren ts tha t ex tend
over much longer per iods and have much more las t ingef fec ts on a f ie ld . The contemporary researcher ,
p rac t i t ioner , o r consumer of psychologica l knowledge is
aware of the sys tem only as i t a f fec ts h is o r her cur ren t
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work . Typica l ly , the demands of the sys tem of
knowledge product ion and d is t r ibu t ion are s imply taken
for gran ted , o r perhaps are seen as requir ing reform in
cer ta in speci f ic respects . I f , however , we want to
unders tand why psychologica l knowledge product ion
has taken on the shape tha t i t has , we wi l l no t be ab le to
d ispense wi th a h is tor ica l perspect ive . I t i s on ly when
we inquire in to how our sys tem of psychologica l
knowledge product ion or ig ina ted tha t we wi l l be ab le to
unders tand where the forms come f rom tha t a re taken
for gran ted to -day .
Let me therefore go back br ief ly to the ear ly days
of modern psychology. Any new group of knowledge
producers , l ike sc ien t i f ic psychologis ts a t the beginning
of th is cen tury , mus t come to te rms wi th a wor ld tha ta l ready conta ins knowledge producers tha t make re la ted
cla ims , l ike medica l p rofess ionals , educat ion is ts ,
exper imenta l phys io log is ts , and so on . These
es tab l ished groups wie ld a cer ta in amount of soc ia l
power , and tha t power i s based on the i r
ins t i tu t ional ized monopoly over cer ta in types of
knowledge product . How can a new group of knowledge
producers th r ive under these condi t ions?
I t can th r ive on ly i f i t manages to form ef fec t ive
a l l iances . This i t can do by en l is t ing the in teres t o f
es tab l ished groups in i t s knowledge products andavoid ing the i r censure , a p rocess tha t has many face ts .
Fi r s t o f a l l , the new knowledge products had
be t te r re f lec t wel l es tab l ished preconcept ions about the
forms of va luable knowledge . I f quant i ta t ive knowledge
is par t icu lar ly va lued , then i t he lps to es tab l ish new
cla ims i f one can g ive them a quant i ta t ive form. But
es tab l ished preconcept ions about the form of knowledge
products au tomat ica l ly ex tend to the methods used to
genera te them, for the form of the product depends
direc t ly on the na ture of the method of p roduct ion . Soone mus t be seen to be engaging in prac t ices tha t
p roduce the r igh t type of knowledge , even though such
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r i tua ls may have more in common wi th magic than wi th
sc ience . More speci f ica l ly , the bor rowing of techniques
f rom bet te r es tab l ished f ie lds provides a bas is for
l imi ted a l l iances which l ink the new f ie ld and i t s
p roducts to the ex is t ing ne twork of recognized
sc ien t i f ic knowledge .
But th is k ind of a l l iance would provide on ly a
l imi ted bas is for the development of a new d isc ip l ine i f
i t s knowledge products were no t seen as hav ing a
s ign if ican t soc ia l va lue of the i r own. They mus t become
marketab le , and tha t means tha t there mus t be
categor ies of persons to whose in teres ts the new
product i s ab le to appeal . The more powerfu l and be t te r
o rganized these consumers of knowledge products a re ,
the more success fu l the producers wi l l be inconsol ida t ing the i r own pos i t ion . Amer ican
psychologis ts scored some rea l successes in th is
d i rec t ion by provid ing knowledge products tha t
mobi l ized the in teres ts o f educat ional and mil i ta ry
adminis t ra tors as wel l as the adminis t ra tors o f p r iva te
foundat ions . Even i f the a l l iances so formed were of ten
temporary , and based more on promissory no tes than on
rea l goods , they served an impor tan t funct ion in
es tab l ish ing the credent ia ls o f the new d isc ip l ine a t a
cr i t ica l s tage in i t s development .
The success fu l es tab l ishment of a new d isc ip l ine
is very much a poli t ical process in which a l l iances haveto be formed, compet i to rs have to be defea ted , p rograms
have to be formula ted , recru i ts have to be won, power
bases have to be cap tured , o rganiza t ions have to be
formed, and so on . These po l i t ica l ex igencies
necessar i ly leave the i r mark on the d isc ip l ine i t se l f
because they la rge ly de termine what types of knowledge
product can be success fu l ly marketed a t a par t icu lar
t ime and p lace .
Almos t f rom the beginning of the twent ie th
century psychology ceased to be a pure ly academic
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disc ip l ine and began to market i t s p roducts in the
outs ide wor ld . That meant tha t the requirements of i t s
po ten t ia l market were ab le to in f luence the d i rec t ion in
which psychology 's p rac t ices were l ike ly to develop .
Prac t ices which were usefu l in the cons t ruc t ion of
speci f ic marketab le products were l ike ly to rece ive a
boos t , whi le prac t ices which lacked th is capaci ty were
hencefor th p laced under a handicap .
Many Amer ican psychologis ts wanted to see the i r
d isc ip l ine t rans formed in to a soc ia l ly usefu l sc ience .
But as soon as they t r ied to conver t th is idea l in to
prac t ice they had to accommodate themselves to the
speci f ic oppor tun i t ies o f fered by a par t icu lar h is tor ica l
contex t . In pr inc ip le the poss ib i l i t ies o f apply ing
psychologica l knowledge might be un l imi ted , bu t theactua l poss ib i l i t ies avai lab le here and now are a lways
sharp ly c i rcumscr ibed . They depend on ex is t ing
ins t i tu t ional forms and on the requirements of those
who can command the socia l resources for pu t t ing
psychologica l knowledge to work .
For example , the f i r s t impor tan t market tha t
opened up for the products o f psychologica l research
was in the f ie ld of educat ion . However , the people who
were the major consumers of these products were no t
paren ts , and not even c lass room teachers bu t
educat ional adminis t ra tors .
To these c l ien ts research meant someth ing tha t
was ra ther d i f feren t f rom academic psychologis ts '
t rad i t ional labora tory prac t ice . Research , to the
adminis t ra tors , was an ac t iv i ty whose resu l ts had to be
re levant to manager ia l concerns . I t had to provide da ta
tha t were usefu l in making immedia te dec is ions in
res t r ic ted bureaucra t ic contex ts . This meant research
which produced essen t ia l ly s ta t i s t ica l in format ion on
re la t ive ly la rge numbers of ind iv iduals . What was
def in i te ly excluded was research which went beyond the
given human and socia l parameters wi th in which theadminis t ra tors had to make the i r dec is ions . I t was , in
o ther words , technologica l research tha t would he lp in
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p resen ted by the la rge sca le requirements of mi l i ta ry
bureaucracy in bo th Wor ld Wars . Without the methods
of menta l measurement a l ready t r ied ou t wi th in an
educat ional contex t Amer ican psychologis ts would have
had noth ing immedia te ly usefu l to of fer the mi l i ta ry
author i t ies . Vir tua l ly the en t i re f ie ld of appl ied
psychology now came to be def ined in te rms of
psychologica l knowledge tha t would be usefu l in
adminis t ra t ive contex ts . Moreover , the convic t ion tha t
psychologica l research had to produce the k ind of
knowledge tha t would be po ten t ia l ly appl icab le in
cer ta in prac t ica l contex ts charac ter ized an impor tan t
and growing sec t ion of academic psychologis ts . What
th is concern wi th usefu l knowledge genera l ly came
down to in prac t ice was the des i re for knowledge tha t
was marketab le in bureaucra t ic adminis t ra t ive contex ts .
In the broades t te rms , the k ind of knowledge tha t
was mos t obvious ly usefu l in such contex ts was
s ta t i s t ica l knowledge . Informat ion about ind iv iduals
was genera l ly of in teres t on ly insofar as i t per ta ined to
the ca tegor iza t ion of ind iv iduals in te rms of g roup
charac ter is t ics . Deal ing wi th ind iv iduals by ca tegor ies
cons t i tu tes the essence of bureaucra t ic p rac t ice . In fac t ,
the h is tor ica l o r ig in of s ta t i s t ics ( inc lud ing the te rm
itse l f ) i s very in t imate ly bound up wi th t he prac t ice and
ra t ional iza t ion of publ ic adminis t ra t ion , and
psychologica l s ta t i s t ics a re no except ion . Mindfu l o f the need to market the products o f the i r research ,
appl ied psychologis ts avoided the explora t ion of
ind iv idual menta l l i fe and l imi ted themselves to
ass ign ing ind iv idual per formance a p lace in an
aggregate of per formances .
I t became fash ionable to refer to th is new,
adminis t ra t ive ly re levant , psychology as the psychology
of ind iv idual d i f ferences , and i t s major p rac t ica l
appl ica t ion was the f ie ld of menta l tes t ing . But the
reference to ind iv idual d i f ferences h ides more than i t
reveals . The te rm " ind iv idual d i f ferences" taken iniso la t ion f rom a speci f ic contex t i s exceedingly vague
and could jus t as eas i ly apply to the work of the
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novel is t as to tha t o f the psychologis t . Clear ly , when
menta l tes t ing is der ived f rom an in teres t in ind iv idual
d i f ferences i t i s no t th is very genera l meaning tha t i s
re levant bu t a very speci f ic meaning which is conveyed
by the contex t . I t was an in teres t in looking a t
ind iv idual d i f ferences in a par t icu lar way tha t found
express ion in the development of menta l tes ts .
Indeed , the inves t iga t ion of ind iv idual
d i f ferences preceded the use of la rge sca le menta l
tes t ing by many years . This ear l ie r in teres t , however ,
approached the top ic of ind iv idual d i f ferences in te rms
of ques t ions of ind iv idual i ty and typology. What the
development of menta l tes t ing d id was to redef ine the
problem of ind iv idual d i f ferences . I t was no longer
conceived as a p roblem of descr ib ing ind iv idual i ty or o f analyz ing typologica l pa t te rns bu t as a mat ter o f
speci fy ing the ind iv idual ' s pos i t ion wi th respect to an
aggregate of ind iv iduals . This meant tha t the ind iv idual
was now def ined on the bas is o f the proper t ies o f an
aggregate . The charac ter iza t ion of the ind iv idual
depended jus t as much on the per formance of a se t o f
o thers as i t d id on anyth ing she d id herse l f . Moreover ,
the whole exerc ise depended on the assumpt ion tha t the
sa l ien t qual i t ies for charac ter iz ing an ind iv idual were
qual i t ies which she shared wi th o thers ra ther than
qual i t ies un ique to herse l f . These common qual i t ies had
to be thought of as cons tan t e lements whose na ture wasunaf fec ted by the i r co-habi ta t ion wi th o ther such
elements in the same ind iv idual . Car r ied to i t s log ica l
conclus ion th is methodology for assess ing " ind iv idual
d i f ferences" ac tua l ly e l iminated the ind iv idual by
reducing h im to the abs t rac t ion of a co l lec t ion of po in ts
in a se t o f aggregates .
While the s ta t i s t ics o f ind iv idual d i f ferences
cons t i tu ted the very an t i thes is o f an in teres t in
psychologica l ind iv idual i ty , they were ab le to speak
qui te d i rec t ly to another k ind of concern . This was the
problem of conformity . The new psychologica l p rac t icewas based on the se t t ing up of "norms" in te rms of
which ind iv iduals could be assessed . In mos t cases
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these norms were psychologica l on ly by in ference; in
the f i r s t p lace they were norms of soc ia l per formance .
The ca tegor ies in te rms of which ind iv iduals were
graded were no t genera l ly soc ia l ly neutra l ca tegor ies
bu t car r ied a powerfu l evalua t ive component . Because
categor ies l ike " in te l l igence" embodied very speci f ic
socia l def in i t ions of what was des i rab le the normat ive
s tudy of ind iv idual per formance became a mat ter o f
es tab l ish ing who would mos t e f fec t ive ly conform to
cer ta in soc ia l ly es tab l ished cr i te r ia . These cr i te r ia
ranged a l l the way f rom the un id imens ional "genera l
in te l l igence" of the eugenic is ts to the qual i t ies needed
in a good sa lesman. But they were a lways cr i te r ia tha t
on ly made sense in the contex t o f par t icu lar soc ia l
in teres ts , be they grand and ideo logica l o r p rac t ica l and
mundane.
For the new s ty le of psychologica l research the
ind iv idual was of in teres t on ly in te rms of h is o r her
s tanding in an aggregate . Research objec t ives la rge ly
sh i f ted to the compar ison of such aggregates and the
s ta t i s t ica l re la t ionsh ips be tween them. In cer ta in
prac t ica l se t t ings ("psychologica l c l in ics") a more
indiv idual ized employment of menta l tes ts , c loser to the
or ig ina l v is ion of Binet , d id cont inue . But insofar as
such prac t ice c la imed to have a sc ien t i f ic bas is , tha t bas is was a lso s ta t i s t ica l . Even though ind iv idual
pa t te rns might be cons idered , they were s t i l l pa t te rns of
per formance def ined in te rms of common group norms .
At th is po in t we have to pause to remind
ourse lves tha t the ac t iv i ty of psychologis ts was no t
only cons t ra ined by the avai lab le poss ib i l i t ies for
market ing the i r knowledge products bu t a lso by the i r
concern to es tab l ish and then improve the i r c la im to the
s ta tus of sc ien t is ts . What the ind iv idual inves t iga tor d id
had poten t ia l soc ia l consequences for o thers who shared
his o r her p rofess ional iden t i ty . The k inds of research prac t ices wi th which psychologis ts were associa ted
served to d is t inguish psychologis ts f rom cer ta in
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neighbor ing d isc ip l ines and profess ions wi th which
there was ac tua l o r po ten t ia l compet i t ion , and they
served to draw a sharp l ine be tween exper ts and laymen.
Above a l l , however , research prac t ices were cruc ia l fo r
leg i t imat ing the sc ien t i f ic c redent ia ls o f the d isc ip l ine .
I t mus t be emphas ized tha t the cr i te r ia for be ing
recognized as sc ien t i f ic had re la t ive ly l i t t le to do wi th
how the es tab l ished sc iences ac tua l ly ach ieved the i r
successes . That involved a se t o f very complex is sues
which remain controvers ia l to th is day . What was
socia l ly impor tan t , however , was the widespread
acceptance of a se t o f f i rm convic t ions about the na ture
of sc ience . To be socia l ly ef fec t ive i t was no t necessary
tha t these convic t ions ac tua l ly ref lec ted the essence of
success fu l sc ien t i f ic p rac t ice . In fac t , the mos t popular be l ie fs in th is a rea were based on ex ternal and
unanalyzed fea tures of cer ta in prac t ices in the mos t
p res t ig ious par ts o f sc ience . Such be l ie fs be longed to
the rhe tor ic of sc ience ra ther than to i t s subs tance .
They c lus tered around cer ta in unques t ioned emblems of
sc ien t i f ic i ty l ike quant i f ica t ion , exper imenta t ion , and
the search for un iversa l ( i . e . ah is tor ica l ) laws . A
disc ip l ine tha t demons t ra ted i t s devot ion to such
emblems could a t leas t es tab l ish a ser ious c la im to be
counted among the augus t ranks of the sc iences .
The success of psychology as a d isc ip l ine
therefore involved two se ts o f p roblems wi th of ten
diverg ing impl ica t ions . On the one hand , there was the
need to develop prac t ices whose products would answer
to the immedia te needs of soc ia l ly impor tan t markets .
But on the o ther hand , there was the need to es tab l ish ,
main ta in and s t rengthen the c la im tha t what
psychologis ts p rac t iced was indeed to be counted as
sc ience . These two requirements could no t a lways be
eas i ly reconci led , and so i t was inev i tab le tha t there
was conf l ic t wi th in the d isc ip l ine wi th some of i t s
members p lac ing re la t ive ly more emphas is on one or o ther o f these d i rec t ions . But in the long run the two
fact ions depended on one another , ra ther l ike two
b icker ing par tners in a bas ica l ly sa t i s fac tory marr iage .
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We can regard the products o f psychologica l
research as grounded in two se ts o f knowledge
in teres ts . On the one hand , there i s an in teres t in
producing the k ind of knowledge tha t appears to be
prac t ica l ly usefu l to cer ta in po ten t ia l consumers of the
knowledge outs ide the d isc ip l ine . But on the o ther
hand , there are in teres ts which a im a t the advancement
of the d isc ip l ine , bo th in a cogni t ive and a soc ia l sense .
What i s des i red here i s knowledge which wi l l fu r ther
the cogni t ive and technica l contro l o f the d isc ip l ine
over i t s sub jec t mat ter and which wi l l improve i t s s ta tus
among the sc iences .
Al though an emphas is on prac t ica l ly usefu lknowledge is more sa l ien t fo r appl ied psychology,
whi le concern wi th sc ien t i f ic s tandards i s p r imary in
pure research , the two par ts o f the d isc ip l ine have
always depended on each o ther . Appl ied psychology
thr ives on profess ional a l l iances and the crea t ion of
markets for i t s p roducts . But to surv ive in th is
compet i t ive environment i t has to main ta in a t leas t a
modicum of sc ien t i f ic c red ib i l i ty . Psychology as a
whole mus t have earned suf f ic ien t respect as a
knowledge producing en terpr ise to be a ser ious
candidate for compet i t ion or for a l l iance wi th o ther
p rofess ional ized f ie lds . That means i t s p roducts mus thave become c lear ly d is t inguished f rom the everyday or
common knowledge and be l ie f o f the lay publ ic and
achieved the s ta tus of exper t knowledge . There i sno th ing more in imica l to a f ie ld ' s success as a source of
va lued knowledge than the susp ic ion tha t i t i s ab le to
supply no more than a dupl ica t ion of what "everyone"
knows anyway, o r worse , a re inforcement of popular
supers t i t ions . The "sof t" a reas of psychology and
parapsychology have a lways had to contend wi th th is
p roblem and have usual ly had to r ide a long on the back
of the core d isc ip l ine .
However , there would have been no core
d isc ip l ine to be car r ied a long by i f there had not been
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cons tan t v ig i lance about main ta in ing the sharpes t
poss ib le d i f feren t ia t ion f rom fo lk knowledge . This was
not a p roblem l imi ted to some marg inal a reas bu t
af fec ted the d isc ip l ine as a whole . For does no t
everyone have to re ly on psychologica l knowledge in
making h is o r her way through the wor ld? How could
anyth ing of fered by exper ts compete wi th a l i fe t ime of
exper ience in human af fa i r s? The ef fec ts o f th is ever
p resen t background chal lenge on the inves t iga t ive
prac t ices of psychologis ts should no t be
underes t imated . Whatever e lse they may have done
these prac t ices a lso served to demons tra te a c ruc ia l
dis tance f rom those mundane s i tua t ions in whicheveryday psychologica l knowledge was acquired . This
was ach ieved la rge ly by drawing on the mys t ique of the
labora tory and the mys t ique of numbers , bo th of whichhad been wel l es tab l ished pr ior to the appearance of
modern psychology. The very ar t i f ic ia l i ty of labora tory
s i tua t ions became a p lus in es tab l ish ing the credent ia ls
of knowledge c la ims emanat ing f rom th is source , and
the impos i t ion of a numer ica l fo rm on o therwise t r iv ia l
knowledge gave i t an apparen t s ign i f icance wi th which
lay knowledge could no t compete . Replac ing ord inary
language wi th ja rgon helped too .
The d is tance tha t separa tes research s i tua t ions
f rom the s i tua t ions in which the i r knowledge products
are to be appl ied leads to a ser ious problem. On the onehand , the rhe tor ic of sc ience requires tha t th is d is tance
be emphas ized and magnif ied . Because the y ie ld f rom
inves t iga t ive s i tua t ions was supposed to cons is t o f
un iversa l ly va l id genera l iza t ions ( so-ca l led nomothet ic
laws) these s i tua t ions were endowed wi th a mys t ique
that rendered them so remote f rom ord inary l i fe tha t
they were no t even seen as soc ia l s i tua t ions . Even the
idea tha t there might be a soc ia l psychology of
psychologica l exper iments on ly arose a t a la te s tage in
the development of the d isc ip l ine . However , there
remained the ra ther ind iges t ib le fac t tha t the
d isc ip l ine ' s ab i l i ty to make fa i r ly re l iab le pred ic t ions
about human beings ou ts ide the psychologica l
labora tory depended to a la rge ex ten t on the c loseness
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of the contex t o f inves t iga t ion to the contex t o f
appl ica t ion . More of ten than not , psychologica l
knowledge had some technica l u t i l i ty on ly insofar as i t s
inves t iga t ive prac t ices were cont inuous wi th re levant
socia l p rac t ices ou ts ide the inves t iga t ive s i tua t ion .
This contrad ic t ion be tween sc ien t is t ic rhe tor ic
and the fac ts o f l i fe in appl ied psychology tended to
main ta in the separa t ion of "pure" and "appl ied"
research . Pol i t ica l ly , bo th the rhe tor ic of sc ience and
speci f ic technica l u t i l i ty were however ind ispensable
for the rap id development of the d isc ip l ine and both
cont inued to f lour ish s ide by s ide . In th is way each
par tner could prof i t f rom the va lue a t t r ibu ted to the
act iv i t ies o f the o ther . "Pure" research could c la im
suppor t on the bas is o f i t s u l t imate prac t ica l usefu lnessand "appl ied" research could speak more au thor i ta t ive ly
by c lo th ing i t se l f in the mant le of sc ience . In ac tua l
fac t , "appl ied" research usual ly re l ied on i t s own
prac t ices wi th l i t t le o r no he lp f rom "pure" research ,
and "pure" research showed a d is t inc t tendency to adopt
some of the cruc ia l p rac t ices of "appl ied" research ,
d is t inguish ing i t se l f main ly by technica l sophis t ica t ion
and a more abs t rac t te rminology.
Here we have another i l lus t ra t ion of the major
po in t tha t has formed t he bas is o f these ref lec t ions : The
bu i ld ing of a d isc ip l ine l ike psychology is no tsometh ing tha t takes p lace in a rea lm of d isembodied
ideas bu t involves the soc ia l ac t iv i ty of speci f ic g roups
of people who have par t icu lar in teres ts and who have to
opera te in a po l i t ica l environment , l ike everyone e lse .
The pecul iar i t ies o f the i r h is tor ica l s i tua t ion are
ref lec ted in the k inds of p rac t ices they adopt and in the
k ind of knowledge which resu l ts f rom these prac t ices .
Knowledge , inc lud ing psychologica l knowledge , i s
p roduced by and for people wi th par t icu lar soc ia l
iden t i t ies and hence par t icu lar soc ia l in teres ts .
In tak ing th is pos i t ion wi th regard to psychologica l knowledge I have mere ly been ex tending
some perspect ives tha t have been opened up by recent
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work in the soc io logy, h is tory , and phi losophy of
sc ience . I f psychology is to be counted among the
sc iences i t cannot escape th is k ind of c r i t ica l scru t iny .
Now, what has tended to happen in the f ie ld of sc ience
s tud ies i s a k ind of demys t i f ica t ion of sc ience . There
was a t ime when the ac t iv i ty of the sc ien t is t was seen
only in h igh ly idea l ized te rms , bu t the more i t has i t se l f
become the subjec t o f sys temat ic examinat ion by
socio logis ts , h is tor ians e tc . , the less d is t inguishable i t
has seemed f rom more mundane socia l ac t iv i t ies .
Inevi tab ly , th is has af fec ted the way in which we
th ink about the source of sc ien t i f ic ach ievements . No
longer are we convinced by the o ld hero ic image of the
ind iv idual inves t iga tor who unlocks na ture ' s secre ts in
s ing le handed pursu i t o f the t ru th . More skept ica l ly -and sure ly more rea l is t ica l ly - we are l ike ly to see
models of rea l i ty emerg ing out o f the co l lec t ive
in terac t ion of g roups of inves t iga tors wi th each o ther
and wi th o ther g roups in soc ie ty .
I f we apply th is perspect ive to the development
of modern psychology we are led to a recogni t ion of the
fundamenta l ro le p layed by the two fac tors I have
emphas ized here : The need to produce adminis t ra t ive ly
usefu l knowledge , and the need to imi ta te the prac t ices
of the more pres t ig ious sc iences . These were no t the
only fac tors involved in the cons t ruc t ion of modern psychologica l knowledge , bu t the i r c ruc ia l impor tance
cannot be over looked . They have g iven much
contemporary psychologica l knowledge i t s
charac ter is t ic shape and are respons ib le for i t s
charac ter is t ic l imi ta t ions .
At the presen t t ime i t i s no t uncommon to hear
p roposals for the recons t ruc t ion of psychology a long
l ines tha t a re meant to avoid the l imi ta t ions of more
t rad i t ional models o f psychologica l knowledge . But
f rom the perspect ive developed here i t would be a
mis take to regard such a recons t ruc t ion as a pure lyin te l lec tua l mat ter . Psychology wi l l change only insofar
as i t s soc ia l a l l iances change . For example , ins t i tu t ions
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tha t a re in teres ted in psychology as a bas is for people
management have no t been the on ly consumers of
psychologica l knowledge . Ind iv idual consumers , who
are in teres ted in psychologica l knowledge as a means to
achiev ing se l f -unders tanding , cons t i tu te another g roup .
They tend to demand and to ge t a very d i f feren t k ind of
psychology, one tha t i s l ike ly to re ly much more on
psycho-analy t ic o r phenomenologica l sources . The
shape of the d isc ip l ine as a whole i s l ike ly to ref lec t
the re la t ive impor tance of d i f feren t types of consumer
in teres t in i t s p roducts .
Each var ie ty of psychologica l knowledge wi l l
have i t s own appropr ia te f ie ld of appl ica t ion and i t s
own l imi ta t ions . There i s no th ing s t range about tha t .
What i s s t range is the no t ion of a s ing le body of abs t rac t psychologica l knowledge tha t i s va l id in a l l
contex ts and for a l l purposes . I t i s no t by chas ing af te r
th is ch imera tha t the d isc ip l ine wi l l make a rea l
contr ibu t ion to mat ters o f major human or in te l lec tua l
s ign if icance . That k ind of ach ievement i s more l ike ly to
come i t s way i f i t ex tends i t s a l l iances and thereby
transcends the l imi ta t ions inheren t in everyone of i t s
speci f ic incarnat ions .
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