Epistemic wars in the humanities challenge theorists’ use of the humanities to combat psychology’s alleged scientism

Abstract

As many theoretical psychologists turn to the humanities to construct a psychological science that does not shortchange human subjectivity, many humanities scholars have turned to the sciences to bolster their declining standing in the academy. In juxtaposing these trends, I consider how epistemic and methodological wars in the humanities echo those that have plagued psychology and so call into question their use to remedy an allegedly scientistic “mainstream” psychology. By failing to grapple with this most relevant controversy, theoretical psychologists may be jeopardizing their efforts to put a more human face on scientific psychology.

Keywords

• epistemic wars
• scientism
• humanities
• psychology
• psychological humanities