James T. Lamiell's Books

Primer in Critical Personalism

A Framework for Reviving Psychological Inquiry and for Grounding a Socio-Cultural Ethos

By: James T. Lamiell

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Primer in Critical Personalism

A Framework for Reviving Psychological Inquiry and for Grounding a Socio-Cultural Ethos

By: James T. Lamiell

This insightful book offers contemporary psychologists and other social theorists an understanding of the comprehensive system of thought developed by the German scholar William Stern (1871–1938) known as critical personalism. Expanding the author’s ongoing efforts in this area, the book considers, firstly, how critical personalism could ground a needed revival of psychological science, a need created by the field's gradual transformation, through its widespread adoption of aggregate statistical methods of investigation, into a discipline better characterized as 'psycho-demography.' Consistent with Stern's own view of the potential of critical personalism vis-a-vis socio-ethical concerns, the book then explores how the framework could facilitate a transcendence of thinking about racial and other social relationships beyond currently prevailing narratives about personkinds into narratives that are actually about persons. This part of the book includes a chapter discussing Stern's own historical efforts in this direction, serving to highlight the non-individualistic nature of critically personalistic thinking. Throughout, Lamiell constructs a clear case for the merits and applicability of critical personalism in modern psychology and social thought. Primer in Critical Personalism will interest established psychological scientists and advanced students in the field, as well as those who are concerned about our contemporary socio-cultural ethos and the prospects for its improvement, including philosophers, sociologists, educators, journalists, clerics, and thoughtful laypersons alike.

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Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Published Date

ISBN 10

1040018378

ISBN 13

9781040018378

Beyond Individual and Group Differences

Human Individuality, Scientific Psychology, and William Stern's Critical Personalism

By: James T. Lamiell

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Beyond Individual and Group Differences

Human Individuality, Scientific Psychology, and William Stern's Critical Personalism

By: James T. Lamiell

Complaining that the still-hegemonic paradigm of individual differences research that dominates the scientific psychology of personality is fundamentally flawed, Lamiell (Georgetown U.) explores the historical developments of the paradigm and offers historical counterexamples of research programs he

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Page Count

360

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SAGE

Published Date

ISBN 10

0761921729

ISBN 13

9780761921721

Uncovering Critical Personalism

Readings from William Stern’s Contributions to Scientific Psychology

By: James T. Lamiell

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Uncovering Critical Personalism

Readings from William Stern’s Contributions to Scientific Psychology

By: James T. Lamiell

This book brings together the central tenets of William Stern’s critical personalism. Presented for the first time for an English-speaking audience, this selection of original translations and essays encapsulates the critical framework of Stern’s personalistic psychology. The selected works highlight the philosophical basis of Stern’s personalistic views, illustrate their relevance in domains of theoretical and practical importance in psychology, and reveal Stern’s critical stance on certain methodological trends that were gaining favor within psychology during his lifetime. Lamiell’s own chapters contextualise the translations by providing an overview of the most basic tenets of critical personalism, and offering a commentary on paradigmatic commitments within scientific psychology’s mainstream that began to impede Stern’s efforts prior to his death, and that remain obstacles to personalistic thinking in the discipline today. Largely ignored by his contemporaries, this work forms part of an emerging body of scholarship that seeks to reintroduce Stern’s thinking into contemporary psychology. The book is intended for academically oriented scholars with interests in historical, theoretical and philosophical issues in psychology.

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Page Count

200

Publisher

Springer Nature

Published Date

ISBN 10

3030677346

ISBN 13

9783030677343

Psychology’s Misuse of Statistics and Persistent Dismissal of its Critics

By: James T. Lamiell

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Psychology’s Misuse of Statistics and Persistent Dismissal of its Critics

By: James T. Lamiell

This book is a strenuous critique of the misinterpretation of statistical knowledge of populations in mainstream psychology, exploring the implications of assuming that those statistics constitute scientific knowledge of individuals. It investigates the essential nature and historical roots of this interpretive practice, and documents the lack of change in mainstream thinking despite previous critiques of the practice. The author contends that prevailing interpretive traditions result in bad science, in that invalid claims are made to knowledge of individuals. He also discusses the socio-ethical problems resulting from this misinterpretation of statistics, where psychological practitioners unjustifiably endorse interventions in the lives of individuals. Lamiell urges psychologists to abandon the aggregate statistical methods which he argues have transformed the field into ‘psycho-demography,’ and to embrace instead alternative research methods that are logically suited to gaining scientific knowledge about the psychological functioning of individuals. This book concludes by highlighting some of the currently available methodological alternatives, as well as discussing some enduring conceptual impediments to the serious consideration of those alternatives.

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