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Whittaker’s “postulates of impotence” and theory in psychology

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Summary

In understanding the place of theory in psychology, it is strategically important for psychologists to accept or reject two “postulates of impotence” (Whittaker). The postulate of conceptual impotence forces us to recognize the arbitrary nature of our psychological terms and the irreducible; uncertainly as to their referents. The postulate of operational impotence maintains that not only does the relative nature of our concepts render us impotent, but that the tools of investigation, be they observation, experimentation, or instrumentation, also are confounding our indices of a real world. Consideration of these is necessary in the “logical model of scientific thought” (Schmidt).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rice University, USA

    T. W. Wann & D. E. Walker

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  1. T. W. Wann
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  2. D. E. Walker
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Wann, T.W., Walker, D.E. Whittaker’s “postulates of impotence” and theory in psychology. Psychol Rec 11, 383–393 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393426

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