METODO

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

195106

(1985) Annals of theoretical psychology, Dordrecht, Springer.

The problem of theoretical pluralism in psychology

Joseph R. Royce

pp. 297-315

The contemporary morass of facts and theories has resulted in a state of intellectual paralysis in the discipline of psychology. In short, we need a pragmatic basis for dealing with theoretical pluralism. Because extant theories are refuted by better theories rather than by direct refutation I end up with the paradoxical conclusion that the best way to deal with theoretical pluralism is to produce more theory—but with the qualification that the new theory be more theoretically powerful than its predecessors and/or its competitors. The paper concludes with an elaboration of the role of dialectic analysis in the evaluation of complementary and competitive theories.

Publication details

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4613-2487-4_20

Full citation:

Royce, J. R. (1985)., The problem of theoretical pluralism in psychology, in L. Mos (ed.), Annals of theoretical psychology, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 297-315.

This document is unfortunately not available for download at the moment.