Sam S. Rakover (1995) Metapsychology: a Pessimistic View of Psychology?
. Psycoloquy: 6(35) Metapsychology (9)
Versions: ASCII formatted
Psycoloquy 6(35): Metapsychology: a Pessimistic View of Psychology?
METAPSYCHOLOGY: A PESSIMISTIC VIEW OF PSYCHOLOGY?
Reply to Fletcher & Burghardt on Metapsychology
Sam S. Rakover
Department of Psychology
Haifa University, Haifa
Israel 31905
RSPS742@UVM.HAIFA.AC.IL
Abstract
Both Fletcher and Burghardt criticize my book
Metapsychology: Missing Links In Behavior, Mind and Science
(Rakover, 1990, 1993), suggesting that it presents a pessimistic
approach to the possibility of solving such issues as the mind-body
problem and the reduction of psychology to neurophysiology. In my
reply I attempt to respond to their critique and other related
questions.
Keywords
behavior, causality, experimentation, explanation,
introspection, mind-body problem, observation, philosophy,
psychology, reductionism, science, theory.
References
- Burghardt, G. M. (1994). Evolution and analysis of private experience. PSYCOLOQUY 5(73) metapsychology.6.burghardt.
- Churchland, P.S. (1983). Consciousness: The transmutation of a concept. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 64, 80-93.
- Dennett, D.C. (1991). Consciousness Explained. Boston: Little Brown and Company.
- Fletcher, G. J. D. (1994). The missing links. PSYCOLOQUY. 5(47) metapsychology.7.fletcher.
- Jackson, F. (1982). Epiphenomenal qualia. Philosophical Quarterly, 32, 127-136.
- McGinn, C. (1989). Can we solve the mind-body problem? Mind, 98, 349-360.
- Nagel, T. (1974). What is like to be a bat? Philosophical Review, 83, 435-450
- Nagel, T. (1986). The view from nowhere. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Rakover, S.S. (1990). Metapsychology: Missing Links In Behavior, Mind and Science. New York: Paragon/Solomon.
- Rakover, S.S. (1992). Outflanking the mind-body problem: scientific progress in the history of psychology. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 22, 145-173.
- Rakover, S.S. (1993). Precis of Metapsychology: Missing Links In Behavior, Mind, and Science. PSYCOLOQUY 4 (55) metapsychology.1.rakover.