Epistemological Alienation in Scientific Psychology

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Philosophy of Science

Background:

• Mainstream psychology often employs a mechanistic, third-person approach to studying individuals.
• This approach can be seen as a form of epistemological alienation, disconnecting from the subject's lived experience.
• Historical accounts of psychology have sometimes been altered to support this mechanistic paradigm.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and explore the concept of epistemological alienation within psychology.
• To examine the connection between psychology's quantitative paradigm and political reality.
• To critique psychology's tendency to reduce first-person experience to a third-person pseudoscience.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of epistemological alienation.
• Discussion of Politzer's critique of mainstream psychology.
• Comparison with Marx's concept of alienation.
• Examination of marginalized voices within psychology.

Main Results:

• Psychology's reliance on psychometric methodology and a mechanistic language disregards individual intentionality, meaning, and judgment.
• This process reinforces the alienation and individualization of the modern subject.
• Epistemological alienation is presented as an internal process within psychological research.

Conclusions:

• Psychology's quantitative paradigm contributes to epistemological alienation.
• This alienation disconnects research from the subjective reality of individuals.
• Addressing epistemological alienation is crucial for a more humanistic and politically aware psychology.