Hello!

I am currently enrolled in a 'History and Theory of Psychology' course at University... And unfortunately I am having trouble answering my essay topic question of:

What is the basis for knowledge in empirically orientated psychology???

Any hints or guidelines in answering this question will be much appreciated!

Kind Regards RW

-- Renne Wanna (missnrg@icqmail.com), April 20, 2002

Answers

Hi Renne, look up the word empirical in the Encyclopeia Britanica. The short answer to your question is, observation is the basis for claims to knowledge in psychology, and this is in contrast to a rational approach to basing claims to truth such as mathematics uses. It will take you a while to wrap your mind around this issue, and in the meantime you'll want to answer the essay question to get a grade. So the quick answer is any claim to truth in psychology must be backed by an observation of some thing in human nature vs. some philosophical arguement.

Good luck, David

-- david clark (doclark@yorku.ca), April 21, 2002.