Hermeneutics, Neo-Structuralism, and Personal Construct Psychology: Toward
a better understanding of the person
Bill Warren
Faculty of Education, University of Newcastle, NSW (Australia)
Abstract
Criticism of the discipline of Psychology has come from 'without' as
its pretensions to objectivity and value-neutrality were challenged by
philosophers of society, language, and science alike, but equally from
within. The last has seen the emergence of various 'critical psychologies'
based on a different metaphor of the person. Predating these critical responses
internally, and resonant with the external criticism, is Personal Construct
Psychology (PCP). Externally, PCP aligns to a philo-sophical tradition
of considerable integrity, particularly in respect of the study of the
interaction of mind and world. In the development of this last tradition,
G.W.F. Hegel is arguably the pivotal figure. As well as having a view on
every important philosophical and scientific question, his work added the
important ingredient to Kant's ideas to produce an approach to understanding
both the predicament and the promise of a centred subjectivity in interaction
with other subjectivities in the world. This paper discusses hermeneutics
- its beginnings in Hegel, and beyond - in an effort to further the case
for a psychology that truly captures the dynamic interaction of individual
and world. Such a psychology will, in turn, provide the foundation for
so called 'applied' areas of psy-chology in such areas as therapy, education,
personal development, the promotion of mental health education.
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