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"Modern psychology began with a rejection of the "soul" as relevant for the science. How did that come about? The Soul in Soulless Psychology explores that question and details arguments for a soulless psychology. However, there was also opposition to this notion. This alternative history of psychology examines those who dissented from a "psychology without a soul," including Neoscholastic psychologists and others, such as Ladd, Mèunsterberg, and McDougall. Substitutions for the soul - such as self, personality, and the brain - show that even with the soul absent, its concerns were present. Innovative re-thinkings of the soul are addressed, as well as attempts at restoration of the soul into psychology. Moreover, historical psychologies of the soul kept the soul in view. In the twenty-first century, we find soul as a noun, an adjective, and a verb, all pointing to the necessity of the soul for psychology"--
List of contents
1. Re-Introducing the soul; 2. Psychology without a soul; 3. Dissenters I: the neoscholastics; 4. Dissenters II: other affirmations of the soul in early modern psychology; 5. Substitution: in the wake of 'psychology without a soul'; 6. Innovation; 7. Restoration; 8. Historical psychologies of the soul; 9. Soul as a psychological category.
About the author
Robert Kugelmann is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Dallas, USA. He has written four books, including Psychology and Catholicism: Contested Boundaries (Cambridge University Press, 2011). He has recently been appointed as a co-editor for a new journal: Integratus: The Journal of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association.
Summary
Modern psychology began with a rejection of the 'soul' as relevant for the science. How did that come about? This alternative history of psychology explores that question and then considers the reappearance of the soul in psychology in various manifestations over the years.
