Document Detail


Noah Porter's problem and the origins of American psychology.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  15378563     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The twin problems facing nineteenth-century American "mental and moral philosophy" of the nature of psychological language and the constraints that religious beliefs placed on possibilities of innovation in a "scientific Psychology" are both highly visible in the work of Noah Porter, who was unable to resolve them. They are also more covertly identifiable in the works of James McCosh and others in this school. It is suggested that the transition to the "New Psychology" of the 1880s and 1890s needs to be rethought in light of this in three respects: (a) ironically, it entailed repressing insights into the psychological language problem, (b) the legacy of the religious factor profoundly affected U.S. Psychology and played a less unambiguously negative role in its fortunes than customarily portrayed, and (c) the transition was itself a more complex and protracted process than is portrayed in traditional "revolutionary" accounts.
Authors:
Graham Richards
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Biography; Historical Article; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of the history of the behavioral sciences     Volume:  40     ISSN:  0022-5061     ISO Abbreviation:  J Hist Behav Sci     Publication Date:  2004  
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2004-09-24     Completed Date:  2005-03-15     Revised Date:  2007-11-15    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  18020010R     Medline TA:  J Hist Behav Sci     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  353-74     Citation Subset:  IM; Q    
Copyright Information:
Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Affiliation:
Staffordshire University.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
History, 19th Century
Humans
Language
Models, Psychological
Psycholinguistics / history*
Psychological Theory
Psychology / history*
Terminology as Topic
United States
Personal Name Subject
Personal Name Subject:
Noah Porter; James McCosh

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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