The aim of this book is not to impart a substantive knowledge of core psychological theories, or even to analyze critically selected theories. Instead, it is to prepare the reader to analyze and advance the theoretical literature in any tradition. Theoretical psychology stands in the same relation to psychology as theoretical physics does to physics. The traditional way to study theoretical psychology is to take up one approach after another—behavioral, psychoanalytic, cognitive, and so on. The aim of this book is not to impart a substantive knowledge of core psychological theories, or even to analyze critically selected theories. Instead, it is to prepare the reader to analyze and advance the theoretical literature in any tradition. A good theoretician should be able to contribute to the study of psychoanalytic theory as readily as to behavioral theory. The skills required are the same. Instead of covering a sequence of theories, therefore, the book is organized around types of theoretical activities. It is not a work in theoretical psychology; it is a book about theoretical psychology. It also confronts psychologists' underestimation of the variety and the significance of theoretical work. Many theoretical issues do not call for empirical research—they require nothing but thinking.

The motivation for this volume in the History and Theory of Psychology series is to look across sub-disciplines within psychology and highlight instances where researchers transcended the tendency to think about methodology along traditional lines. Contributors have located examples of researchers who built upon existing ideas to create methods true to their interests and theoretical convictions. Emerging Methods in Psychology shows how a discipline creates new methods and carves out possibilities that not only generate data, but also advance knowledge of human psychological functioning. It concentrates on showcasing the possibilities that exist when the researcher focuses on the relationship between theory, method, and data. The question of what kind of expertise is required is a key issue. This is particularly the case in psychology where the tradition of standardizing methods over the last century has served to stabilize research questions. Knowledge creation is deeply affective and ambiguous rather than the secure accumulation of data by a socially legitimized procedure. This innovative volume moves beyond psychology as social engineering into new varieties of social knowledge.

The Wiley Handbook of Theoretical and PhilosophicalPsychology presents a comprehensive exploration of the widerange of methodological approaches utilized in the contemporaryfield of theoretical and philosophical psychology. The Wiley Handbook of Theoretical and PhilosophicalPsychology presents a comprehensive exploration of the widerange of methodological approaches utilized in the contemporaryfield of theoretical and philosophical psychology. Gathers together for the first time all the approaches andmethods that define scholarly practice in theoretical andphilosophical psychology Chapters explore various philosophical and conceptualapproaches, historical approaches, narrative approaches to thenature of human conduct, mixed-method studies of psychology andpsychological inquiry, and various theoretical bases ofcontemporary psychotherapeutic practices Features contributions from ten Past Presidents of the Societyof Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, along with severalPast Presidents of other relevant societies

The book introduces and outlines the six main approaches and considers how each has helped psychologists understand human behaviour, thought and feeling.

Outline of Theoretical Psychology discusses basic philosophical problems in the discipline and profession of psychology. The author addresses such topics as what it means to be human in psychology; how psychological knowledge is possible and what it consists of; the role of social justice in psychology; and how aesthetic experience could help us to understand the human condition. Proposing possible solutions to a range of such issues, Thomas Teo situates theoretical questions within traditional branches of philosophical inquiry: ontology, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics. This book argues that in order to improve psychology as a discipline and in practice, psychologists must reconceive the unit of psychological analysis, looking beyond individual capacity and even experience. By engaging with these basic philosophical problems, Teo demonstrates how psychology can avoid its common pitfalls and continue as a force for resistance and the good.

I have been involved in constructing a unified theory for many years, in considering the state of psychology's unity-disunity, and in generally attempt ing to persuade our profession to work on its unification. In this work I have had the opportunity to become acquainted with the works of a number of other psychologists whose statements indicated that they had something to say on these topics. I saw also that it would be very productive for psychology to have these individuals address themselves to psychology's disunity-unity, consid ered as a problem that should be confronted and addressed. In 1983 I began to indicate that it was my intention to devote a book to the topic, as seen through the eyes of a group of prominent psychologists concerned with related issues. It was very fortunate from my standpoint that Joseph Royce and later Leendert Mos, who were editing this series, were interested in this book. I accepted the former's invitation to do within the present series the book I had planned. Although I must assume responsibility for selection of the contributors, for the book's organization, and for the first editing of their papers for substance, Pro fessor Mos offered to help in an editorial capacity and I am most grateful for his contributions to the formal editing. The volume is much improved as a result of his careful efforts, which in one case involved rewriting material.