Psychology as a phenomenological science
pp. 17-32
in: Jaan Valsiner, Giuseppina Marsico, Nandita Chaudhary, Virginia Dazzani (eds), Psychology as the science of human being, Berlin, Springer, 2016Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to trace some early relations between psychology and phenomenology in the history of psychology. With this analysis, we intend to show that phenomenological approaches have a fruitful history in early psychology. In the second part of this chapter, we then present three classical case studies in which the authors—Kurt Lewin, Martha Muchow, and Gustav Ichheiser—resorted to phenomenological approaches. We discuss these classic studies in relation to how Lewin, Muchow, and Ichheiser all used different phenomenological approaches to understand the mind (in the sense of the German term: Bewusstsein) and human behavior. Furthermore, in outlining some of the main tenants of where phenomenology and psychology have progressed on common grounds, we pay special attention to the person–environment relation. Focusing on the person–environment relation in light of classic phenomenological psychological perspectives aims at highlighting the need to reintegrate psychological processes and underlying functions of the personal living space in contemporary psychological analyses.
