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Could Presentism in the Histories of Psychology Actually be Futuristic?

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Abstract

Disputes about the origins of psychology in the history of the discipline are functional not for our understanding of the past, but as normative signs that regulate the construction of ideas in the future. We introduce the notion of open-ended normativity that regulates the development of a given discipline towards its future. Hence the question of the cultural origins of psychology becomes contested in the 21st century as an important topic. It proves that the history of psychology is an active participant in the making of psychology, as it is creating its future.

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Notes

  1. “Hans-Georg Gadamer” (1900–2002)‘ by Lauren Swayne Barthold, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISSN 2161–0002, http://www.iep.utm.edu/, accessed March 5, 2015.

  2. For the personal humanity of the “giant” see van der Veer and Zavershneva 2011.

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Acknowledgments

The preparation of this paper was supported by the Niels Bohr Professorship grant from Den Danske Grundforskningsfond.

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Correspondence to Jaan Valsiner.

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Valsiner, J., Brinkmann, S. Could Presentism in the Histories of Psychology Actually be Futuristic?. Psychol Stud 60, 380–383 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-015-0310-1

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