Wittgenstein’s Philosophy in Psychology

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxvi

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2. The Relevance of Wittgenstein’s Philosophy to Psychology

   • Gavin Brent Sullivan

   Pages 1-93

3. A Wittgensteinian Stance on Psychological Methods, Objectivity, Ontology and Explanations

   • Gavin Brent Sullivan

   Pages 95-216

4. Wittgenstein’s Influence and Impact in Areas of Psychology

   • Gavin Brent Sullivan

   Pages 217-357

5. Concluding Remarks: Wittgensteinian Philosophy and the Future of Psychology

   • Gavin Brent Sullivan

   Pages 359-370

6. Back Matter

   Pages 371-415

   PDF

This book highlights the importance of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s writings on psychology and psychological phenomena for the historical development of contemporary psychology. It presents an insightful assessment of the philosopher’s work, particularly his later writings, which draws on key interpretations that have informed our understanding of metapsychological and psychological issues.

Wittgenstein’s Philosophy in Psychology engages with both critics and followers of the philosopher’s work to demonstrate its enduring relevance to psychology today. Sullivan presents a novel examination of Wittgenstein’s later writings by providing historical detail about the uptake, understanding and use of Wittgenstein’s remarks and method in psychology and related areas of social science, examining persistent sources of conceptual confusion and showing how to apply his insights in investigations of collectives, social life, emotions, subjectivity, and development. In doing so, he reveals the value for psychologists in adopting a philosophical method of conceptual investigation to work through and become more reflexive about prominent theories, methods, therapies and practices in their respective, multiple fields and thereby create a resource for future theoretical, empirical and applied psychologists. This work will be of particular relevance to students and academics engaged in the history of psychology and to practitioners interested in understanding the continued importance of Wittgenstein’s work within the practices of psychology.

• critical psychology
• Ludwig Wittgenstein
• Philosophy in Psychology
• philosophical exegesis
• Social Psychology
• theoretical psychology
• postmodernism
• mathematics and psychology
• Kuhnian paradigms in psychology
• ontology
• methodological pluralism
• Wittgenstein on objectivity
• Wittgensteinian criticisms of cognitive psychology
• “Theory of mind”

“This is a book that needed to be written and is well worth the effort to digest in full. … it is an important contribution to Wittgenstein scholarship in its own right and pays careful attention to the field of psychology in a manner that no other book-length treatment of Wittgenstein to my knowledge has done … . Readers with a particular interest in developmental and evolutionary psychology will also be richly rewarded.” (Timothy P. Racine, Theory & Psychology, Vol. 30 (4), 2020)

• Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University, Coventry, United Kingdom

  Gavin Brent Sullivan

​Gavin Brent Sullivan is a Reader in Social and Political Psychology at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University, UK. He has been awarded Endeavour, Gerda Henkel and Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowships as well as funding from the British Council, NERC and ESRC in the UK.

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