Book contents
- The Soul in Soulless Psychology
- The Soul in Soulless Psychology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Reintroducing the Soul
- 2 Psychology without a Soul
- 3 Dissenters I
- 4 Dissenters II
- 5 Substitution
- 6 Innovation
- 7 Restoration
- 8 Historical Psychologies of the Soul
- 9 Soul as a Psychological Category
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - Dissenters I
The Neoscholastics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2023
- The Soul in Soulless Psychology
- The Soul in Soulless Psychology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Reintroducing the Soul
- 2 Psychology without a Soul
- 3 Dissenters I
- 4 Dissenters II
- 5 Substitution
- 6 Innovation
- 7 Restoration
- 8 Historical Psychologies of the Soul
- 9 Soul as a Psychological Category
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
There were psychologists who insisted that psychology was a natural science and that the soul as a concept was essential to the science, which was to be as philosophical as it was experimental. Neoscholastic psychology illustrates well that a psychology has roots in a way of life, in a culture. The Neoscholastics represented—Edward A. Pace, Michael Maher, Desiré Mercier, and Albert Farges—supported the development of scientific psychology, although among this group only Pace actually conducted experiments, having studied with Wundt. Pace and Mercier addressed Catholic critics of psychology, critics who feared it would be materialistic. Not so, said these Neoscholastics, who articulated an empirical psychology with a Scholastic philosophical foundation. While the soul is not a phenomenon, its existence could be grasped from its effects, especially conceptual thinking and freedom of the will. These thinkers also addressed their peers in psychology who rejected metaphysical considerations in this new science.
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- The Soul in Soulless Psychology , pp. 59 - 81Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023