A Critical History and Philosophy of Psychology Diversity of Context, Thought, and Practice

In line with the British Psychological Society's recent recommendations for teaching the history of psychology, this comprehensive undergraduate textbook emphasizes the philosophical, cultural and social elements that influenced psychology's development. The authors demonstrate that psychology is both a human (i.e. psychoanalytic or phenomenological) and natural (i.e. cognitive) science, exploring broad social-historical and philosophical themes such as the role of diverse cultures and women in psychology, and the complex relationship between objectivity and subjectivity in the development of psychological knowledge. The result is a fresh and balanced perspective on what has traditionally been viewed as the collected achievements of a few 'great men'. With a variety of learning features, including case studies, study questions, thought experiments and a glossary, this new textbook encourages students to critically engage with chapter material and analyze themes and topics within a social, historical and philosophical framework.

1. Introducing the history and philosophy of psychology; 2. Ancient and premodern psychological thought; 3. Early modern psychological thought; 4. The philosophical and scientific climate in the nineteenth century; 5. Early natural-science psychology; 6. Natural-science psychology between the world wars; 7. Natural-science psychology after World War II; 8. Applied and professional psychology; 9. Human-science psychologies: psychoanalysis; 10. Human-science psychologies: hermeneutic to transpersonal; 11. Constructing psychological research; 12. Critical philosophical and historical reflections.

Richard T. G. Walsh is Professor of Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Thomas Teo is a Professor of Psychology at York University, Toronto.
Dr Angelina Baydala is an Adjunct Professor of Clinical Psychology and a registered clinical psychologist in private practice in Edmonton, Alberta.