Unknown - A New Synthesis for Solving the Problem of Psychology

PALGRAVE STUDIES IN THE THEORY AND

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

A New Synthesis

for Solving the Problem

of Psychology

Addressing

the Enlightenment Gap

Gregg Henriques

Palgrave Studies in the Theory and History

of Psychology

Series Editor

Thomas Teo

Department of Psychology

York University

Toronto, ON, Canada

Palgrave Studies in the Theory and History of Psychology publishes scholarly books that draw on critical histories and theoretical concepts and methods, from a variety of approaches in the psychological humanities, to examine the discipline, profession, and practice of psychology.

This series publishes scholarly books that use historical and theoretical methods to critically examine the historical development and contemporary status of psychological concepts, methods, research, theories, and interventions. Books in this series are characterised by one, or a combination of, the following: (a) an emphasis on the concrete particulars of psychologists scientific and professional practices, together with a critical examination of the assumptions that attend their use; (b) expanding the horizon of the discipline to include more interdisciplinary and transdisci-plinary work performed by researchers and practitioners inside and outside of the discipline, increasing the knowledge created by the psychological humanities; (c) doing justice to the persons, communities, marginalized and oppressed people, or to academic ideas such as science or objectivity, or to critical concepts such social justice, resistance, agency, power, and democratic research. These examinations are anchored in clear, accessible descriptions of what psychologists do and believe about their activities. All the books in the series share the aim of advancing the scientific and professional practices of psychology and psychologists, even as they offer prob-ing and detailed questioning and critical reconstructions of these practices.

The series welcomes proposals for edited and authored works, in the form of full-length or short monographs; contact beth.farrow@palgrave.com for further information.

Series Editor:

Thomas Teo is Professor of Psychology at York University, Canada Series Editorial Board:

Lisa M. Osbeck, University of West Georgia, USA

Annette Mlberger, University of Groningen, the Netherlands

Alex Gillespie, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

Alexandra Rutherford, York University, Canada

Suzanne R. Kirschner, College of the Holy Cross, USA

Ernst Schraube, Roskilde University, Denmark

Antonia Larrain, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile

Wahbie Long, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Gregg Henriques

A New Synthesis for

Solving the Problem

of Psychology

Addressing the Enlightenment Gap

Gregg Henriques

James Madison University

Harrisonburg, VA, USA

Palgrave Studies in the Theory and History of Psychology

ISBN

978-3-031-18492-5 ISBN

978-3-031-18493-2 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18493-2

The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Praise for A New Synthesis for Solving

the Problem of Psychology

This integrative masterpiece exemplifies the best of cognitive science. It pursues a synoptic integration of many different literatures to generate a new, highly plausible framework for understanding the mind. Henriques is a modern Aristotle whose overarching vision is not only cogently and rigorously argued, but it also affords a conceptual vocabulary and theoretical grammar for the scientifically grounded practice of psychotherapy and the existential understanding of the human condition needed to address the current meaning crisis. This book should be required reading for any undergraduate psychology program, and it should be studied and discussed in depth within graduate programs. The field of psychology needs to be transformed in a way that can address both its internal problems and the external problems of mind and mental health facing the world today. Henriques

book does this masterfully.

John Vervaeke, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto, Canada, and author of Awakening from theMeaning Crisis

We live in an age that requires a new and better vision of what psychology is and can be, which is to say that today we need a new metapsychology. Gregg Henriques offers one of the most comprehensive and academically rigorous metapsychological visions available today. Moving across Big History, epistemology, and nearly every subfield of psychology, Henriques offers an impressive metamodern synthesis, and provocative cultural play. If this book has the reception it deserves, the field of psychology will never be the same.

Dr. Zak Stein, Co-Founder Civilizational Research Institute & Consilience Project, Co-President; Center for World Philosophy

and Religion, USA. Author of Education in a Time Between Worlds:Essays on the Future of Schools, Technology, and Society

A New Synthesis for Solving the Problem of Psychology is a dazzlingly ambitious attempt to close the gap between lawful objective and contextual interpersonal science; a gap left wanting since the advent of the Enlightenment. Through the promising voice of metamodernism along with synthetic elegance Henriques moves us toward a fuller, richer, and wiser psychological worldview.

Kirk J. Schneider, Ph.D., author of Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy,The Spirituality of Awe, and the forthcoming Life-EnhancingAnxiety: Key to a Sane World

Contents

Part I The Problem of Psychology

Part II The Unified Theory of Knowledge and Its First

Two Key Ideas

vii

viii CONTENTS

Part III A Descriptive Metaphysical System for Modern

Empirical Natural Science

Part IV Defining Behavior and Its Deep Connection to

Modern Science

Part V Defining Mental Processes and Grounding the