Abstract
This paper attempts to clarify aspects of an earlier argument in favor of theoretical pluralism in psychology. The paper begins by accepting that psychology is currently pluralistic. It then discusses the fallible nature of scientific knowledge and points out that fallibilism is not incompatible with unity of the kind found in physics and chemistry. Later, the paper considers the diverse nature of physical and chemical phenomena and argues that the diversity of psychological phenomena is no ground for abandoning hope for a unified psychology. The paper concludes that pluralism indicates only that psychology is currently protoscientific in status and not that it must in principle always lack the unity of the more advanced sciences.
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Lee, V.L. Some Comments About Unity in Psychology. Psychol Rec 35, 287–291 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395850
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395850