What Can Phenomenological Psychology Contribute to the Problem of Subject Matter in Psychology?

Abstract

What is the object of psychology? The problem of subject matter in psychology (Gegenstandsfrage), is perhaps the most fundamental question of theoretical psychology. In view of the current state of research, the contribution of phenomenological psychology to its investigation consists primarily in illuminating the discursive conditions under which an answer to the question of psychology’s subject matter becomes possible. In order to discuss its significance in terms of theory of science, it is first necessary to clarify whether the standard definition of psychology as the science of experience and behavior is compatible with the idea of a uniform object. Within psychological discourse, the questions of the necessity of a definition of the subject matter as such and of the appropriate basic discipline for psychology were discussed above all. The methodological implications of the question of the subject matter become tenable in the treatment of the adequacy of the object (Gegenstandsangemessenheit), which concerns the level of modelling. A dual conception of adecquacy of the object is proposed that differentiates a subjectand an object-orientation for the psychology of appearances (Erscheinungspsychologie) and that of functions (Funktionspsychologie). This conception is explicated by discussing the research dimensions of methodical rigor, ontological presuppositions and research ethics. This results in a phenomenological error theory that can be applied to the entire logical space of possible answers to the question of psychology’s subject matter.