Psychology and Human Flourishing : Gaining Knowledge for Psychology Through Both Philosophy and Science Chad A
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Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Psychology 1-1-2013 Psychology and Human Flourishing : Gaining Knowledge for Psychology Through both Philosophy and Science Chad A. Houchin George Fox University This research is a product of the Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) program at George Fox University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Houchin, Chad A., "Psychology and Human Flourishing : Gaining Knowledge for Psychology Through both Philosophy and Science" (2013). Doctor of Psychology (PsyD). Paper 111. http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/psyd/111 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Psychology at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. Psychology and Human Flourishing: Gaining Knowledge for Psychology Through both Philosophy and Science by Chad A. Houchin Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology George Fox University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology Newberg, Oregon March 2013 Ideas Have Consequences iii Psychology and Human Flourishing: Gaining Knowledge for Psychology Through both Philosophy and Science Chad A. Houchin Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology George Fox University Newberg, Oregon Abstract Clinical psychologists are guided in their work by their comprehensive worldview, including beliefs about the nature and authority of knowledge claims, about the nature and constitution of human persons, and about ethical and moral claims. They will invariably apply their philosophies to clinical work with clients, though not always with consistency. Some hold certain views of reality yet practice as if these views are untrue. There are currently 3 reductionist viewpoints, both dominant in Western academia and universities, and dehumanizing in their implications. They are: strict empiricism in epistemology, reductive materialism (or physicalism) in metaphysics, and relativism in ethics. Though these are theoretical concepts, the practical application of them (conscious or unconscious) has deep and profound consequences for clinical psychology, daily life, and human destiny (individual or corporate). Ideas Have Consequences iv Each of these 3 views contains an implicit rejection of holistic and teleological conceptions of human life (Russell, 1971, p. 31). Empiricism, physicalism, and relativism all contribute to a piecemeal, fragmented, disintegrated, and abridged overall view of knowledge and the nature of reality, of human persons, and of ethics. Many thinkers maintain that a realistic, rational, critically based, evidentially sound, and frankly more accurate view of the nature of the world and of human beings, will make psychotherapy more effective, and that ignoring these views could make psychotherapy ineffective, or even harmful. First, knowledge is available apart from narrow empiricism. Second, we live in a world of immaterial essences joined to physical bodies, not merely material bodies. Third, important core elements of morality and ethics are indeed true for everyone, not merely subject to arbitrary, constructivist, social, or individual hermeneutic whims. There is good evidence for these 3 claims and therefore good reason to believe them. Many clinical implications follow from the acceptance or rejection of these views, including whether human beings can know and act upon knowledge apart from science, whether we have merely instrumental or deeply intrinsic value, whether we have libertarian free will or are wholly determined by the laws of physics and chemistry, and whether the concept of moral (or other) improvement is possible or rendered incoherent by relativism. Ideas Have Consequences v Table of Contents Approval Page ............................................................................................................................................................ii Abstract........................................................................................................................................................................iii Chapter 1: Introduction – Ideas Have Consequences ...............................................................................1 Chapter 2: Philosophy of Science for Psychologists ..................................................................................8 Stipulation: Science is a Good Thing Within its Proper Domain............................................8 The Epistemological Limits of Science........................................................................................... 12 The Nature of Knowledge in the Clinical Setting....................................................................... 19 The Problem With Strict Empiricism ............................................................................................. 23 Methodological Similarities Between Empirical Science and Other Disciplines......... 26 The Primacy of Philosophy ................................................................................................................. 30 Happiness and How to Get Knowledge of it ................................................................................ 31 Human Nature and the Limits of Science...................................................................................... 32 Thomas Kuhn’s Contribution to Knowledge ............................................................................... 35 Discussion of Kuhn ................................................................................................................................. 37 Some Implications for Therapy......................................................................................................... 39 Philosophical Presuppositions (& Their Origins) Underlying the Scientific Enterprise ............................................................................................................... 41 Why Does This Matter to Clinical Psychology? .......................................................................... 51 Chapter 3: Relating Chapter 2 to Chapter 4 ............................................................................................... 55 Chapter 4: Philosophy of Mind for Psychologists .................................................................................... 57 We Are Not Our Brains ......................................................................................................................... 57 Ideas Have Consequences vi The Mind/Body Problem ..................................................................................................................... 60 Materialism Entails Determinism: No Place For Free Will.................................................... 64 Consciousness........................................................................................................................................... 65 Qualia (kw:li or kwahl–yuh) and Phenomenology............................................................. 69 The Mind/Brain Problem in Philosophy of Science: Reduction or Elimination of the Mental? ................................................................................................... 71 The Binding Problem............................................................................................................................. 72 The Hard Problem................................................................................................................................... 74 Chapter 5: Relativism and Virtue Ethics for Psychologists ................................................................. 79 Virtue and Happiness ............................................................................................................................ 79 Against Relativism.................................................................................................................................. 82 The Objectivity of Truth ....................................................................................................................... 89 Virtue Ethics and Positive Psychology........................................................................................... 90 Epistemic Relativism is Self-Refuting and Necessarily False............................................... 92 Clinical Significance................................................................................................................................ 95 Chapter 6: Summary and Conclusion............................................................................................................ 96 References................................................................................................................................................................. 98 Appendix A A Dialogue Wherein Methodological Naturalism is Scrutinized........................104 Appendix B Curriculum Vitae.....................................................................................................................108 Ideas Have Consequences 1 Chapter 1 Introduction – Ideas Have Consequences The title of this section is taken from the philosophical work of the same name by Richard M. Weaver (Weaver, 1948). Indeed, theoretical ideas always have real-world consequences, even if it takes decades or longer to play out in an individual, group or culture. Someone once said