Abstract
“What is the subject matter of this science?” is a proper methodological question to ask about any empirical science. The late Gordon W. Allport asked this question about the science of psychology in a special way, and thereby raised the old philosophical problem of whether scientific knowledge is knowledge of particulars or of universals. It was Allport’ oft-repeated complaint that psychology has given its attention only to universals, has neglected to study the individual, and has therefore been guilty of a serious failure in the fulfillment of its scientific task. Allport’ complaint and prescription are reflected in the following two brief quotations:
As long as psychology deals only with universals and not with particulars, it won’t deal with much—least of all human personality. (Allport, 1960, p. 146)
Psychology will become more specific, i.e., better able to make predictions, when it has learned to evaluate single trends in all their intrinsic complexity, when it has learned how to tell what will happen to this child’ I.Q. if we change his environment in a certain way. (Allport, 1940, p. 17)
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Franck, I. (1986). Psychology as a Science. In: Valsiner, J. (eds) The Individual Subject and Scientific Psychology. Perspectives on Individual Differences. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2239-7_2
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