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The big picture: Writing psychology into the history of the human sciences
Author(s) -
Smith Roger
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6696(199824)34:1<1::aid-jhbs1>3.0.co;2-x
Subject(s) - psychology , psychoanalysis , history of psychology , cognitive science , epistemology , philosophy
The grand narratives which once gave order and readability to histories, of science and of the human sciences are widely rejected in current historiography, and historians focus on detailed studies of scientific knowledge and activity in particular contexts. How, then, are synthetic general histories, accessible to the non‐specialist, to be written? This paper, designed as an open‐ended discussion, reflects on the business of writing about psychology in a general history of the human sciences. It considers three large topics: reflexivity, and the situation in the human sciences where “man” is both subject and object; the boundary‐less identity of the human sciences and hence the need to express values in delimiting the content of the field; and the long‐standing debate about what sort of “science” is appropriate for knowledge of human beings. The conclusion turns to “the quest” as a narrative form. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.