Philosophy of psychology is concerned with the history and foundations of psychology, addressing both epistemological questions about how psychological claims can be known and ontological questions about the nature of mental states. A central concern is whether psychology, understood as the study of individuals as information processing systems, is autonomous from the brain processes that realize it, even though psychologists largely agree that the brain in some sense causes behavior, a relationship discussed under the concept of supervenience. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Central QuestionSourced to the subject's own accountWhat is the proper relationship between psychological explanation and its ontological and epistemological foundations, how can psychological claims be known, and what is the nature of the mental states they describe? 1 Key DebateSourced to the subject's own accountWhether computational models used in cognitive science do genuine explanatory work or merely offer possible implementations of an existing cognitive theory that, as Jerry Fodor and Zenon Pylyshyn argued in 1988, tell us nothing about the mind itself. 1 Key DebateSourced to the subject's own accountWhether psychology, understood as the study of individuals as information-processing systems, is autonomous from the brain processes that realize it, even though psychologists broadly agree that the brain in some sense causes behavior. 1 Connections
Associated With
Fodor's The Language of Thought (1975) and his modularity-of-mind thesis are central, still-debated positions in the contemporary philosophy of psychology.
James's The Principles of Psychology (1890) is a foundational text straddling psychology and philosophy of mind, still cited as the field's founding synthesis.
Sources
1. Philosophy of Psychology (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section
Philosophy of psychology is concerned with the history and foundations of psychology.
Autonomy and supervenience discussion
Whether psychology, as the study of individuals as information processing systems, is autonomous from what happens in the brain (even if psychologists largely agree that the brain in some sense causes behavior (see supervenience))
Relations to other fields section, computational models discussion
whether computational models can do anything more than offer possible implementations of cognitive theories that tell us nothing about the mind (Fodor & Pylyshyn 1988)
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