Psychology as history, and the biological renaissance: A brief review of the science and politics of psychological determinism

Journal/Book: Aust Psychol. 1998; 33: 1 Grattan Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia. Australian Psychological Soc. 40-46.

Abstract: This article briefly examines biological determinism in the context of research on human differences, and outlines how this orientation has historically functioned to legitimise social inequality. It is then argued, in contradiction to the ''received view'' in contemporary psychology, that ''extra-scientific'' factors shape and inform all aspects of scientific inquiry. An historicist-contextualist perspective is subsequently used to highlight the ''justificatory function'' of psychological research. It is concluded that an unreflective adherence to traditional positivist-empiricist theories of science, and a refusal to admit ''consequence'' arguments into scientific discourse has contributed to a situation where social research has persistently served to reinforce and reify normative social values as natural and immutable.

Note: Article Butler PV, Royal Rehabil Ctr Sydney, Brain Injury Unit, Ryde, NSW 2112, AUSTRALIA

Keyword(s): SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGY; KNOWLEDGE; LOOKING; VALUES; RACE

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