Philosophy And Psychology: What Is The Relationship Between Them?

Philosophy and psychology are two areas of study that share a place in history. Psychology has arisen from philosophy. Psychology evolved out of philosophy as it sought to include the empirical method when it came to examining some of philosophy’s major questions about the human mind. Hence, philosophy has brought several subjects of study to psychology, such as perception, perception, intelligence, and memory.

In contrast, the solutions that each study area arrives at are very different. Although they seek to study the same topics and questions, they each have quite different views. Even when they make use of some of the same theories, philosophy and psychology rarely reach the same conclusions. This is precisely why the professionals in each field often see each other as competitors.

The word “psychology” comes from the Greek word “psyche” and “logos”. Respectively, these mean “soul” and “study” or “learning about”. Of these, psychology means the doctrine of the soul. Simply put, we can say that psychology is the science that is responsible for studying the human mind and behavior.

Psychology seeks to explain what happens inside the “black box” and how these phenomena affect our behavior, as well as with a view to the sensory impressions we receive. It also seeks to understand how humans receive and interpret the information we receive through our senses.

The term “philosophy” also comes from Greek. It is composed of the words “philo” and “sophia” which together in Danish becomes “philosophy” and means “the love of wisdom”. The purpose of philosophy is to solve all kinds of problems that arise in reality.

Philosophy focuses on studying a large varying amount of what can be called transcendental problems. The topics that philosophy seeks to explore may include existence, knowledge, truth, morality, beauty, mind, and language. In general, it does not conduct its study using empirical data. Instead, it makes use of methods such as conceptual analysis, mental experiments, speculation and other a priori methods.

Psychology depends on philosophy for several reasons. First of all, philosophy gives psychology a general understanding of being human. This is the foundation of a large part of the psychological theories. The reverse relationship is also true. Philosophy sometimes makes use of scientific methods to achieve its goals. Both study areas share theories and study objects.

Another similarity is that philosophy has contributed topics to psychology. Some examples are perception, perception, memory and will. As we have mentioned before, both areas share study objects, although their way of examining these objects as well as the answers they arrive at are very different.

On the other hand, philosophy fits into psychology in two different ways. One way is based on the relative hypothesis: the mind and proper ways of studying it. And the second way consists of the general principles underlying scientific research.

Although both disciplines examine human behavior, they are different. Some of the differences are reflected in their methods, purposes and whether they take a stand on morality or not.

In terms of method , philosophy works with conceptual categories and the relationship that exists between them. It is therefore open to many methods.

However, psychology is different as it depends on empirical data and statistics. It makes use of quantitative and qualitative research. It focuses on experiments and empirical testing of hypotheses. Experiments are a way to understand our behavior, as well as validate the tools we use, such as the therapy methods we have nowadays.

With regard to the end goals of each field,  philosophy focuses on more intellectual purposes, with psychology focusing on therapy and intervention. Philosophy creates philosophical systems and categories that aim to explain reality. Psychology aims to isolate and study individual variables of human behavior, rather than the whole.

Against this background, psychological theories take into account our biology. A good example of this is the study of our brain chemistry. In addition, psychology also emphasizes the individual differences of man. After all, no one behaves completely the same, not even in the same situations.

Another major difference between philosophy and psychology is their concept of morality. Philosophy wants to explain everything, which also includes the correct way of behaving. Philosophy often tries to explain what is right and wrong.

On the other hand, psychology does not want to move into this area. Although psychology has suggestions for how to measure ethics and morality, its purpose is not to explain what morality is, but simply to explain what different morals exist.

Philosophy and psychology study people and their behavior. They have similarities and differences. They even interpret the same things differently. Therefore, the answers depend on which method one sees the question with. However, they often share the same theories and results.