Problems of Metaphysics and Psychology

by Jay N. Eacker

People still want to know the answers to the questions addressed in Problems of Metaphysics and Psychology. Of course, they want to know the answers to a great many more questions than are dealt with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1462009719
• ISBN13: 9781462009718
• Release Date: May 2011
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Problems in Metaphysics and Psychology

Most students and others possessed with a lively intellectual curiosity have an ongoing interest in knowing more about human behavior and personality. But many of them, even psychology majors, are disappointed and confused by the apparent lack of agreement among the experts on such basic questions as "What is humn nature?" or "What is psychology?" In Problems of Metaphysics and Psychology, Professor Eacker examines eleven of these basic questions, and explains why there are no satisfactory answers to any of them. As he points out, people usually assume that, if a question can be asked, there must be an answer for it. But many problems encountered in psychology do not appear to be solvable with the methods of science. Some of those problems are therefore considered to be problems are therefore considered to be problems of philosophy as well as psychology. Others, including those examined in this book, are more appropriately classified as metaphysical, since they originate in the assumptions that psychologists have been willing to make about the nature of reality. The eleven problems examined here are: psychology, behaviorism, science, behavior, stimulus, learning, reinforcement, motivation, emotion, instinct, and human nature. Each is stated in the form of a question, such as "What is psychology?" or "What is stimulus?" Since each of these questions seems to require a statement about the "essense" of the subject, the book considers the unresolved metaphysical problems of universals, or essences (such as "whiteness"), and then examines each problem individually. No attempt is made to be exhaustive - psychology contains more questions of this type that can be examined in one book. But those selected and discussed provide some clue as to how others that could have been asked might be treated. Many instances are identified in which it appears that either physical principles or the language of physics and the other sciences have been used inappropriately in psychology. In the absence of behavioral laws or principles this tendency may, at one time, have been helpful. But, laws and principles of behavior are now beginning to be developed from experimental analysis that are strikingly different from, and may more adequately explain psychological phenomena than those of the other sciences. "We may have reached that point in time were psychologists can, and must, give up physical priniples," writes Eacker. "If we were less bound by those traditional principles, psycholog might become a more exciting science than so far seems to be the case." Not only students of psychology, but professional psychologists as well, will welcome Eacker's critical insights into these persisting metaphysical problems. They are of enduring interest to anyone who wants to know more about the human mind or behavior. --- from inside book's cover