Psychology can be considered a humanity as well as a science. This paper examines distinctions between the humanities and the sciences and suggests five characteristics of a humanity. After reviewing previous pleas to broaden the perspective of psychology, three examples are provided of psychology as a humanity. Finally, the impact that this view might have on teaching and research is discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Psychological Association. (1981). Directory of the American Psychological Association (pp. xxii–xxix). Washington, DC: Author.
2.
ArrowsmithW. (1966, March). The shame of the graduate schools. Harper's magazine, pp. 51–59.
3.
BirdO. A. (1974). Humanities. Encyclopaedia Britannica (Macropaedia), vol. 8, 1179–1183. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
4.
BoringE. G. (1950). A history of experimental psychology.New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
5.
The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. (1971). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
6.
CottleT. J. (1977). Private lives and public accounts.New York: New Viewpoints.
7.
CraikK. H. (1982). Psychology's renaissance humanist. Contemporary Psychology, 27, 845–848.
8.
CronbachL. J. (1975). Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 30, 116–127.
9.
EisnerE. W. (1981, April). On the differences between scientific and artistic approaches to qualitative research. Educational Researcher, pp. 5–9.
10.
GiorgiA. (1970). Psychology as a human science: A phenomenologically based approach.New York: Harper & Row.
11.
HouseE. R. (1982). Introduction: Scientific and humanistic evaluations. In HouseE. R.MathisonS.PearsolJ. A.PreskillH. (Eds.), Evaluation studies review annual (Vol. 7, pp. 15–25). Berkeley, CA: Sage.
12.
JamesW. (1890). The principles of psychology.New York: Henry Holt.
13.
KimbleG. A. (1984). Psychology's two cultures. American Psychologist, 39, 833–839.
14.
KochS. (1981). The nature and limits of psychological knowledge: Lessons of a century qua “science.”American Psychologist, 36, 257–269.
15.
LeviA. W. (1970). The humanities today.Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
16.
LevinsonD. J.DarrowC. N.KleinE. B.LevinsonM. H.McKeeB. (1978). The seasons of a man's life.New York: Knopf.
17.
MaherW. B.MaherB. (1982). The ship of fools; Stultifera navis or ignis Fatuus?American Psychologist, 37, 756–761.
18.
MurrayH. A. (1962). The personality and career of Satan. Journal of Social Issues, 18(4), 36–54.
19.
OrtonyA. (1975). Why metaphors are necessary and not just nice. Educational Theory, 25, 45–53.
20.
PollioH. R. (1982). Behavior and existence: An introduction to empirical humanistic psychology.Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
21.
RandallF. (1984, January 29). Why scholars become storytellers. The New York Times Book Review, pp. 1, 31.
22.
RoyceJ. R. (1967). Metaphoric knowledge and humanistic psychology. In BugentalJ. F. T. (Ed.), Challenges of humanistic psychology (pp. 21–28). New York: McGraw-Hill.
23.
RoyceJ. R. (1976). Psychology is multi: Methodological, variate, epistemic, world view, systemic, paradigmatic, theoretic, and disciplinary. In ArnoldW. H. (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation, 1975 (pp. 1–63). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
24.
RunyanW. McK. (1982). Life histories and psychobiography: Explorations in theory and method.New York: Oxford University Press.
25.
RychlakJ. F. (1976). Psychological science as a humanist views it. In ArnoldW. H. (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation, 1975 (pp. 205–279). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
26.
SheehyG. (1974). Passages: Predictable crises of adult life.New York: E. P. Dutton.
27.
ShneidmanE. S. (Ed.). (1981). Endeavors in psychology: Selections from the personotogy of Henry A. Murray.New York: Harper & Row.
28.
SingerI. B. (1982, December). Isaac Bashevis Singer: Literature, 1978. Psychology Today, p. 22.
29.
SmithM. B. (1982). Psychology and humanism. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 22, 44–55.
30.
TagesonC. W. (1982). Humanistic psychology: A synthesis.Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.
31.
WatsonR. I. (1967). Psychology: A prescriptive science. American Psychologist, 22, 435–443.
32.
WrightsmanL. S. (1981). Personal documents as data in conceptualizing adult personality development. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 7, 367–385.
