Syllabus for Bangalore University

HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY

SEMESTER – I
Total hours: 60
COURSE CODE – MPS 131
Max. marks: 100

Course Description:

A history of psychology reflects cultural shifts and how we view ourselves: Where do we place humanity in relation to the world around us? What makes up an individual—their personality, their abilities? What are the implications of how we approach the study of human behavior? Do we see mental illness, for example, as a biological or spiritual disorder? How have philosophical and cultural shifts shaped the field? As with other sciences, psychology has evolved through changes in paradigms and technologies, making history of psychology a specific example of the history and philosophies of science in general. Therefore, a history of psychology goes well beyond circumscribed limits. By exploring the history and philosophy of psychology we’re also exploring big questions about what we are and how we come to understand that.

Course Objectives:

1. One of the primary goals of this class is for students to learn the philosophical roots and historical events that have shaped the field of psychology. The main reason for this is to help students place their own professional lives and work in a larger picture shaped by historical and social factors. This will include an exploration of underlying philosophical assumptions, individual contributors, and various forces that served to shape the emerging field of psychology.
2. A second goal is for students to acquire a basic understanding of western (and, to an extent, Indian) philosophical thought, to articulate a philosophy of their own, and apply that philosophy to their professional work.
3. Acquiring understanding of the ways in which psychology's development has interacted with society, in terms of both how the culture and context affected psychology's development and how the field of psychology and its actors have shaped society.
4. Acquiring understanding of the major overarching themes and questions and their changes over time (e.g., free will vs. determinism; interactions between heredity, biological influences, and environment; subjectivity of perspectives, etc.).
5. A final goal of this course is for students to increase their ability to (a) think critically about the science of psychology, (b) analyze psychological theory, research, and practice in a historical context, and (c) develop ideas, critiques, and conclusions of their own.

Module – I: Introduction and background
15 Hrs

Understanding Science, History, and Philosophy; Psychology and Science; Persistent questions in Psychology and approaches/methods for answering the questions: Mind-Body, nativism-empiricism, mechanism-vitalism, reason – non-reason, objectivity-subjectivity, origin of human knowledge, problem of the Self.

Module – II: Forerunners and the beginnings of Psychology as a discipline
15 Hrs

Social and intellectual contexts of questions of ‘psyche’/’mind’: Greek, Pagan, Christian, Medieval, Islam; The Scientific Revolution and the creation of consciousness – Psychology ‘invented’: Early development of Psychology and Applied Psychology: Psychology of Consciousness, the Unconscious, and adaptation.

Module – III: Psychology in modernity
15 Hrs

Shift from mentalism to behaviorism; The rise of cognitivism; Psychology and ‘Minorities’; the rise of Applied Psychology; The ‘Psychologized’ society; The value and role of contemporary Psychology.

Module – IV: Looking back to move ahead
15 Hrs

Fort-Da between the Windscreen and the Rearview mirror; Defining the discipline (of Psychology) through the methods and models (of Knowledge); Historicizing the categories of Psychology (normal/abnormal, clinic); Possibilities of pre-modern Psychology (in India): drawing from Buddhism, Girindra Sekhar Bose; Our vision of Psychology: an engaged but critical Psychology?

Module – IV: Psychology in India and the World:

History of Psychology in India; Contemporary Psychology; Impact of Globalization; Post Modernism and Multicultural movements. Women in the History of Psychology; Impact of Religions on Psychology.

Primary Readings

Other Readings