An Introduction to the Philosophy of Psychology brings together the most current and prominent researches in psychology, and scrutinizes the methodologies and strategies that make Psychology a science. The book is an interesting read, full of examples and references that clarify the context and framework of each chapter. At times, this can become too dense in terms of information packed in a section, but the book is generally easy to follow and it does deliver its promise of introducing psychology as a science, and the philosophy of psychology as a branch of philosophy of science.

The first two chapters are mainly focused on defining the science of psychology, its domain and methods; after which the authors go on to explain, in chapters 3 and 4, how psychology accounts for and defines the architecture of the mind, the different approaches in the understanding of cognition and the ongoing debate on innate and acquired psychological structures.

Chapter 5 offers a very interesting presentation of new approaches on cognition: the 4 E’s — Embedded, Embodied, Extended and Enacted. The authors discuss new approaches that try to define what a cognitive system is in the first place; They express their own reservations in regards to some assumptions in the 4 Es and conclude the chapter by leaving the door open to the possibility of new insights thanks to new protocols and research. This chapter raises challenging questions about psychology and its science, and at the same time constitutes a good demonstration of what philosophy of psychology does.

Chapters 6 and 7 deal with theories of perception — focused mostly on vision, as well as attention and consciousness, respectively. Through the presentation of psychological and phenomenological schools of thought, the authors reveal the intimate connection between consciousness and attention, and the rather elusive nature of this connection. Finally, chapter 8 and 9 cover social cognition and mind reality, as well as the link between language and thought. In both cases, the scope of the book doesn’t allow enough space to discuss all the existing theories and philosophical questions about the topics, which is a shame. It would’ve been interesting to see, for example, a discussion on how we come to know our own minds in chapter 8.

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Psychology is a good first step for someone who wants to learn more about psychology, its science and its philosophy.  However, the book leaves out Clinical Psychology and the matter of Ethics in Psychology, and there are no explanations about these omissions. Does this mean that clinical psychology — and its methods — are not considered a science nor a proper object for the philosophy of science? Granted, the answer to that question isn’t always straight forward, but psychology can’t be reduced to its cognitive branch. On another hand, if psychology is a science with (at least some) “methodological and explanatory autonomy” as the authors argue, one would assume that there are ethical considerations linked to its strategies and practice. Indeed this book would have been more complete had the authors addressed these issues, even if just to explain why they have decided to leave clinical psychology and ethical considerations in psychology out of their scope. 

Nonetheless, the reader of An Introduction to the Philosophy of Psychology can expect to gain an understanding of cognitive psychology as a science, and of the ways philosophy investigates or evaluates psychology and its methods of research and theorization.

© 2015 Taline Artinian

Taline Artinian, University of Exeter