Outline of Theoretical Psychology

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Introduction

   • Thomas Teo

   Pages 1-23

3. Ontology-Laden Reflections

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 25-25

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   2. What Is Psychology?

      • Thomas Teo

      Pages 27-47

   3. What Does It Mean to Be Human?

      • Thomas Teo

      Pages 49-76

   4. The “Nature” of Psychological Objects, Events, and Concepts

      • Thomas Teo

      Pages 77-99

4. Epistemological Concerns

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 101-101

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   2. The Consequences of “Positivism” in Psychology

      • Thomas Teo

      Pages 103-132

   3. Social Characteristics and Knowledge

      • Thomas Teo

      Pages 133-153

   4. Culture, Epochs, and Psychological Knowledge

      • Thomas Teo

      Pages 155-176

5. Ethical–Political Debates

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 177-177

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   2. The Role of Values, Power, and Money in the Psydisciplines

      • Thomas Teo

      Pages 179-199

   3. Should Psychologists Care About Injustice?

      • Thomas Teo

      Pages 201-218

   4. Problem-Solving Versus Problem-Making in Society

      • Thomas Teo

      Pages 219-237

6. Aesthetic Challenges

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 239-239

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   2. Subjectivity and Resistance Through Aesthetics

      • Thomas Teo

      Pages 241-265

7. Back Matter

   Pages 267-316

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Outline of Theoretical Psychology discusses basic philosophical problems in the discipline and profession of psychology. The author addresses such topics as what it means to be human in psychology; how psychological knowledge is possible and what it consists of; the role of social justice in psychology; and how aesthetic experience could help us to understand the human condition. Proposing possible solutions to a range of such issues, Thomas Teo situates theoretical questions within traditional branches of philosophical inquiry: ontology, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics. This book argues that in order to improve psychology as a discipline and in practice, psychologists must reconceive the unit of psychological analysis, looking beyond individual capacity and even experience. By engaging with these basic philosophical problems, Teo demonstrates how psychology can avoid its common pitfalls and continue as a force for resistance and the good.

• theoretical psychology
• Academic anthropology
• Aesthetics
• American Psychological Association
• Biopsychosocial theory
• Circuits of dispossession
• Collectivism
• Convergent pluralism
• Disability studies
• Epistemology
• Ethics in Psychology
• Intersubjectivity
• Kantian forms of intuition
• positivism

“This book accomplishes a double-task, addressing the heart and context of contemporary psychology; it takes the syllabus requirements for conceptual and historical issues in psychology to a new level, providing an accessible and intelligently argued critique.” (Ian Parker, Emeritus Professor of Management, UK)

“This volume is an important corrective to the restricted range of topics that have come to define theory in psychology. Teo's keen evaluation of the critical and cultural dimensions of theory are an important introduction to a new analysis of subjectivity and will be a consequential tool for students and scholars alike.” (Henderikus J. Stam, University of Calgary, Canada)

• Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

  Thomas Teo

Thomas Teo is professor of psychology in the Historical, Theoretical, and Critical Studies of Psychology Program at York University in Toronto, Canada. He is Fellow of the Canadian and American Psychological Association, former editor of the Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, and former President of the International Society for Theoretical Psychology. 

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