Hi Jason:
What an interesting question.
From my vantage point, unification is a kind of dialectical process. It requires that people from different perspectives (a) really engage each other deeply in order to (b) explore the difference in their key assumptions and beliefs and seek, whenever possible, (c) to adjust their own beliefs to the “truths” they find in the other — if possible.
From this view, unification is something that must develop and emerge dialogically; one cannot predict what it would look like beforehand…
In my view, unification need not privilege within-perspective versus between-perspective dialogue; they can certainly go on at the same time.
Because unification requires deep analysis, in my view, of core assumptions — the deepest movements toward unification would occur between perspectives — because that’s where major paradigmatic assumptions get exposed. Within perspectives, the disagreements tend, of course, to be more minor. Nonetheless, in most things, both/and would seem to be better than either/or….
Thanks for your interesting question. I wonder what your thoughts are on what I’ve suggested here.
Mike
Michael F. Mascolo, Ph.D.
Academic Director, Compass Program
Professor, Department of Psychology
Merrimack College, North Andover, MA 01845
978.837.3503 (office)
978.979.8745 (cell)
"
Things move, persons act." -- Kenneth Burke
"If it's not worth doing, it's not worth doing well." -- Donald Hebb
Hello ToK Society,
So what would you consider the major schools of thought within psychology? Psychodynamics, Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Humanism? A few more?
I ask because I wonder how prudent it would be to demonstrate how useful the ToK framework would be in regards to achieving unification *within* various schools of thought in psychology first before moving on to achieving unification *between* various schools of thought in psychology.
Just some food for thought.
~ Jason Bessey
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