philosophy vs. psychology--help

I am curious as to in which ways/ or why psychology is more popular than philosophy.

Can anyone help me with their ideas?

because, to a certain extent psycology can be proven true, whereas philosophy consists of only theories. for example, pavlov’s experiment with his dog. he proved that the dogs brain told it to salivate when the bell rang. philosophy cannot be proven. thats why were all in this forum, because if we could prove our theories, we would probably be out doing so.

Yes, things in Psychology CAN be proven true, but there are many theories and schools of thought in Psychology that are diametrically opposed to each other (mutually exclusive) and they all have their proofs as to why their theory is the best. So, I guess all I am saying is that I don’t know if scientific proof is all there is to why Psych is more popular than Philosophy.

i would say that scientific proof may be the only reason. people like being right. with philosophy, you are never right, you just have your opinions. i think a lot of people like psycology because they can prove themselves right. then there are those of us who like philosophy perhaps because you can theorize pretty much anything and hearing different theories gives you something to ponder. thats just my opinion.

I don’t have any problems with the concept of pondering for it’s own sake though I’m sure a few scientists would take issue that that is limited to philosophy (ie pure research. positivism etc.). Psychology does make claims to science, but it’s an odd claim and difficult to substantiate (as opposed to neurology). Still, I wonder if it’s better to see the two as two different modes of conversation:

Psychology is a hierarchical relationship between anaylsand and analyist. The basic principle is that something is wrong with the analysand and the analyst has the tools to fix it.

Philosophy involves at least two people who are interested in the same topic and who believe or at least act as if both were equals. But the basic mode is dialogical or argumentative.

Or put another way, scientists describe you and the world, psychologists try to change you and your relationship to the world, and philosophers try to change the way you look at the world.

Psychology is more popular than philosophy because people are more interesting than ideas.

I’m not trying to be hard on you Imagistar, but leaving the statement like that makes no sense whatsoever, the assumption being that psychology doesn’t have ideas or something. Please clarify…

I dunno. I kinda like it.

The question is, “Why is psychology more popular than philosophy?” One possible answer is that psychology is people-oriented, while philosophy is not.

That response is true as far as it goes. The problem with it is, it represents the triumph of glibness over depth.

Is that so wrong?

A more thoughtful response would have been that the difference between philosophy and psychology is the difference between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind.

As Carl Jung pointed out, archetypes (which originate in the collective unconscious) are numinous. They fascinate. That is why psychiatrists are “hypnotized” by their patients.

That is also why Edgar Allan Poe outsells every American writer of the 19th Century combined (Bennet Cerf of Random House).

Happy, Magius? I’m gonna go out in the garden and eat worms, and if I die from their poison, it will be YOUR FAULT.

Imagistar stated:

Like you said, it is one possible answer. But that answer is extremely incomplete. How can you say that philosophy is NOT people oriented? May I remind you that psychology is the birth child of philosophy and physiology. It is true that philosophy isn’t ALL about people, but drawing the other extreme is also wrong. Fallacy of composition, bringing a multi viewed opinion down to two views.

Imagistar stated:

I tend to think that this response would be less thoughtful. You are assuming that psychology is completely based on Freud, and that Freud was completely enthralled with the sub-concscious. There are philosophers out there that disagree with Cartesian Optimism (the view that everything is already in our mind, we just havent found an effective way of getting it all out). Many philosophers argue for the sub-conscious and that there are things in our minds to which we have no access; I forget the term for it. Many philosophers philosophize about dreams, the sub-conscious, the possibilities of tele-kinesis.

Imagistar stated:

I’m not sure whether to laugh or to worry about the condition of your mental health. Where did this come from?

Magius

If you’re looking for an argument, you’ve come to the wrong guy.

And learn to laugh. You have the sense of humor of King Kong.

Bye.

Raaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

I guess I should consider an avatar switch, huh? Anyone got a pic of King Kong?

Keep your avatar, Magius. No big woof.

This is a philosophy site, so let me give you my philosophy:

Life is a couple of laughs. Everything else is a hand job.

Needs work.

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

philosophy and psychology both ask questions, but the answers are sure more to be definite in the field of psychology. Philosophy has answers, and perhaps even more exhaustive and comprehensive; but the answers that philosophy gives build up and lead to more more questions, perhaps even more baffling than the question it originally wants to answer.

Ad Infinitum.

People can get tired.

If it’s true that Psychology is more popular than Philosophy, and assuming that these fields are separated by both scientific goals and falsifiabliity, then it’s easy to figure out why. I think If you were to go any local bookstore and in the section that calls itself Psychology, you would be hard pressed not to find your answer. What people consider to be applicable to their own lives may not actually be theories that are provable, i.e. falsifiable. Psychology as a science is not what is popular, but the supposed answers that flow from its swelling population of soon-to-be high school counselors are seemingly more applicable to peoples lives than some abstract notion of an objective ethical standard or a question about “other minds”. People want to know why we act like we do…pop-psychology will tell you all you could ever want to know and much much more.