Psychology in the Absence of the Psyche

Assuming a purely empirical and scientific position in the field of psychology is both insufficient and problematic when attempting to examine the mind and internal realm of human beings. Technological and scientific advancement have produced a shift in the methods utilized within the psychological domain and the lens through which human experience is perceived and understood. Depression, anxiety, phobias, PTSD, and other common mood and behavioral disorders are rooted in existential and philosophical dilemmas; recognition and the addressment of this is currently deficient. Effective treatment and explanations for mental illness cannot be attained through the reductionistic means stated in the former. In addition, the education and training of psychologists is limited and incomplete which lends to fruitless results in restoring the mental health of patients. Therapy becomes a treatment of symptoms through medication while failing to discover and amend the origins of disorders themselves.

The current mission statement of the American Psychological Association is to “advance psychology as a science, a profession, and as a means of promoting health, education, and human welfare." A definitional foundation must necessarily be established to examine how these concepts may coincide while identifying the potential conflicts that can arise. In addition, it is essential to provide a brief summation of the historical contexts that undergird the modern understandings of the psychological domain in order to produce a fully comprehensible schema. The term Psychology is Greek in origin and means “The study of the soul.” Science is defined as the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. Psychology did not become a distinct discipline until the mid-19 th century when the German physiologist William Wundt established a research lab in which he incorporated scientific research methods to investigate reaction time, consciousness, and introspection. Various schools of thought emerged soon after, the most pivotal being Structural Functionalism, Psychoanalysis, Behaviorism, and Cognitive psychology. Modern psychology, although shaped by these historical approaches, has undergone a vast shift; it seeks to understand the biological and socio-cultural aspects that influence human behavior through the incorporation of scientific principles. The field has divorced itself from the philosophical discipline through which it arose.

Philosophy aims to study the fundamental problems connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The argument being presented is that it is vital to remerge these disciplines, for failure to do so severely diminishes the efficacy of therapy in addition to promoting an inaccurate capturing of what it is to be human. The aim of psychology should be to provide orientation to individuals for proper action within the world. The discovery of what this entails cannot be found in science alone. The manifestation of proper action is predicated on aligning oneself to reality which can also be understood as becoming the embodiment of truth. Science is an avail to this pursuit because it provides an understanding of the external world of objects which is indisputably necessary, but it is inappropriate to utilize it as an allencompassing and infallible scheme through which answers can be provided for the inherent existential questions of being human.

To use as a common example for further illustration, a psychologist is treating a patient suffering from depression. Chemical imbalance and neurological malfunctioning have been excluded from the causal criteria. A dilemma has been presented that extends outside of the scientific scope. An examination of the mind is now called into order which is paradoxically interwoven and separate from the brain muscle. The individual reports that they are suffering from anhedonia, fatigue, a desire for isolation, inability to conceive of a purpose to their life, and debilitating despair. This disorder has caused a paralysis that inhibits the ability act properly within the world. In order for this to be amended, the patient must undergo an internal healing and restoration. If psychological training is limited to a mastery of science and the absence of philosophy, spirituality, and history than the ability for therapists to be of aid in such cases is greatly hindered.

Mental health disorders can be characterized as human paradigms that are ridden with intricate webs of illusion and falsity which cause unhealthy behaviors that are dual directional- pointing inwardly towards the self and outwardly towards the external world. The mission of the psychologist is to establish order to the chaos ensued within the mind. The philosophical tools of undoing barriers to critical thinking, examination of the origins and justifications for beliefs, and scrutinous analysis of the self are fundamental to rehabilitation.

Further, medication is a treatment that provides temporary avail, but it cannot be viewed as an end in itself. Psychology must seek to value the truth and must train therapists to guide patients to this pinnacle. It is not the analysis of objects and phenomena within the tangible and material world- the type of truth being sought by science. It is a truth to which patients must come into contact- through obtaining knowledge of what is good in itself, establishing a telos to their existence, discovering meaning and authenticity, and alleviating attachments to past events which bind their psyches and render them paralyzed. Further, therapists must undergo philosophical training in order to develop the virtues of wisdom, reason, a knowledge of things that were and have come to pass, and practical applications of effective discourse.

Another aspect within the field of psychology which appears to currently be overlooked is the intention and aim of the profession itself. More specifically, the value system it is seeking to undertake. An essential question that needs to be asked is what the aim of the therapeutic relationship entails. The APA states “The purpose of a therapeutic relationship is to assist the individual in therapy to change his or her life for the better.” This statement is ambiguous and highly insufficient. Further, how is it that “better” can be defined, what does it entail, what is it being measured against and in relation to? How is it that psychology seeks to change individual lives through therapy? The examination of values is a philosophical undertaking as opposed to one of science. It appears that psychology seeks to adopt the worldview of science while only being able use the methods of science in an approximative manner. Thus, an inherent contradiction is present within the aim to which it seeks to arrive.

The points of view of renowned thinkers of the past will be utilized to substantiate the argument being made- the works of Carl Jung were influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, and religious studies. He stated, “modern belief in the primacy of physical explanations has led to a ‘psychology without the psyche,’ that is, to the view that the psyche is nothing but a product of biochemical processes,” he argued, and beckoned for,“ the courage to consider the possibility of a ‘psychology with the psyche,’ that is, a theory of the psyche ultimately based on the postulate of an autonomous, spiritual principle.” Jung’s view of the therapeutic relationship is best illustrated in the following: “We doctors are forced, for the sake of our patients, to tackle the darkest and most desperate problems of the soul, conscious all the time of the possible consequences of a false step.”

In addition, Thomas Kuhn (Historian and philosopher of science) authored “Structure of Scientific Revolutions”. He created the concept of paradigms and stated that science does not evolve in a continuous and linear way. If science and psychology are unified than it is necessary to account for subjective perspectives, since all objective conclusions are ultimately founded upon the subjective conditioning/worldview of its researchers and participants. Kuhn defines paradigms as "universally recognized scientific achievements that, for a time, provide model problems and solutions for a community of researchers," (page X of the 1996 edition). In addition, he states that psychology cannot be understood as a science because a single and commonly established approach has not been instantiated; psychology is more precisely classified as a pre-science. In addition, a qualitative difference between exists between psychology and science. For science operates under the presupposition that only that which is objectively observable can be deemed as being real. The field claims to be devoted to truth, but this epistemic distinction must be recognized because the internal structures of humans are not directly observable. In addition, when viewing this dilemma logically it can be concluded that belief in something implicates disbelief in all things which defy it.

Science does not account for phenomenal reality which is what defines individual perception and experience when confronted with the objective world. Phenomenal reality is comprised of a layering of past events to which a collective meaning and value have been ascribed. Therefore, the systems of emotion/ motivation, perception, and action are not in response to an objective material world but to the manner in which it is processed and interpreted by the unique internal structure of the individual. This cannot be fully examined through a strictly empirical methodology which is reductionistic and necessarily excludes all imperceptible mechanisms. This point can be best illustrated by discussing the distinction between the mind and the brain- the field of neuroscience has revolutionized the modern understanding of the biological and chemical processes which give rise to the complexity of human functioning. This is achieved through the investigation of the primordial intricacies contained in the nervous system. The array of neuroscientific discoveries are of great utility in the scientific and psychological domain, but they fail to adequately account for the mind which is foundational to psychology.

The most influential psychological experiments such as The Bobo Doll, Hawthorne Effect Study, Milgram Experiment contain the common element of using scientific procedures to analyze external behavioral manifestations that are rooted in the beliefs, value systems, and perceptions of individuals. These elements exist outside of the physical and natural world, and it is therefore contradictory to claim that the human mind can be adequately studied through a strictly scientific lens. In addition, these experiments spurred the questioning of ethics, morality, and human nature both in society and within the psychological domain.

The field of science is predicated on ethical pursuit and application. It is essential to recognize that the mechanism by which ethics can be determined is not scientific; the exploratory framework is philosophical. The above conundrum can analogously be applied to the nature of the therapeutic relationship when psychologists are expected to provide sound guidance to patients experiencing moral, ethical, existential, spiritual, relational, and intrapersonal difficulties. Psychologists’ cannot reference scientific principles when dealing with philosophical matters that involve value systems, and origins of belief. The counterargument contends that it is appropriate to maintain psychology as a science. This position holds that psychology becomes a scientific practice when it chooses to examine the external behavioral manifestations of human beings. The scientific method can then successfully be applied because the object of undertaking is activity that can be objectively observed. Researchers can be expected to be unbiased in their perceptions, studies can be replicated, and future events can be predicted through collected data. Behaviorism and Cognitive Psychology have proven to be highly effective in their use of scientific principles to control, manipulate, observe, and predict both animal and human behavior. The development of personality and intelligence tests have allowed for an understanding of cognitive functions and biological factors that influence human action, scope of ability, and perception.

The points of disputation do not advocate that psychology divorce itself from science. There is apparent and substantial evidence that demonstrates the manner in which science has evolved and expanded the understanding of human psychology. Science should be retained for the reasons formerly mentioned, but psychology cannot solely incorporate science and exclude all other domains because it severely limits its efficacy in treating patients and it distorts the lens through which human nature is understood. There are questions that cannot be answered by science which are fundamental to being human. Further, psychology must examine the origins and manifestations of human suffering and the manner in which they can be transcended so as to enable proper action within the world.