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187The “Rationality Wars” in Psychology: Where They Are and Where They Could GoInquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 55 (1): 66-81. 2012.Current psychology of human reasoning is divided into several different approaches. For instance, there is a major dispute over the question whether human beings are able to apply norms of the formal models of rationality such as rules of logic, or probability and decision theory, correctly. While researchers following the “heuristics and biases” approach argue that we deviate systematically from these norms, and so are perhaps deeply irrational, defenders of the “bounded rationality” approach t…Read more
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173What (Good) is Historical Epistemology? Editors' IntroductionErkenntnis 75 (3): 285-302. 2011.We provide an overview of three ways in which the expression “Historical epistemology” (HE) is often understood: (1) HE as a study of the history of higher-order epistemic concepts such as objectivity, observation, experimentation, or probability; (2) HE as a study of the historical trajectories of the objects of research, such as the electron, DNA, or phlogiston; (3) HE as the long-term study of scientific developments. After laying out various ways in which these agendas touch on current debat…Read more
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162This essay aims to sharpen debates on the pros and cons of historical epistemology, which is now understood as a novel approach to the study of knowledge, by comparing it with the history of epistemology as traditionally pursued by philosophers. The many versions of both approaches are not always easily discernable. Yet, a reasoned comparison of certain versions can and should be made. In the first section of this article, I argue that the most interesting difference involves neither the subject…Read more
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150Cognitive Externalism Meets Bounded RationalityPhilosophical Psychology 27 (1): 50-64. 2014.When proponents of cognitive externalism (CE) turn to empirical studies in cognitive science to put the framework to use and to assess its explanatory success, they typically refer to perception, memory, or motor coordination. In contrast, not much has been said about reasoning. One promising avenue to explore in this respect is the theory of bounded rationality (BR). To clarify the relationship between CE and BR, we criticize Andy Clark's understanding of BR, as well as his claim that BR does n…Read more
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146Why Does History Matter to Philosophy and the Sciences?: Selected Essays (edited book)Walter DeGruyter. 2005.What are the relationships between philosophy and the history of philosophy, the history of science and the philosophy of science? This selection of essays by Lorenz Krüger (1932-1994) presents exemplary studies on the philosophy of John Locke and Immanuel Kant, on the history of physics and on the scope and limitations of scientific explanation, and a realistic understanding of science and truth. In his treatment of leading currents in 20th century philosophy, Krüger presents new and original …Read more
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140The extended cognition thesis: Its significance for the philosophy of (cognitive) sciencePhilosophical Psychology 27 (1): 1-18. 2014.While the extended cognition (EC) thesis has gained more followers in cognitive science and in the philosophy of mind and knowledge, our main goal is to discuss a different area of significance of the EC thesis: its relation to philosophy of science. In this introduction, we outline two major areas: (I) The role of the thesis for issues in the philosophy of cognitive science, such as: How do notions of EC figure in theories or research programs in cognitive science? Which versions of the EC thes…Read more
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125Freedom and the Human Sciences: Hume’s Science of Man versus Kant’s Pragmatic AnthropologyKant Yearbook 3 (1): 23-42. 2011.In his Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, Kant formulates the idea of the empirical investigation of the human being as a free agent. The notion is puzzling: Does Kant not often claim that, from an empirical point of view, human beings cannot be considered as free? What sense would it make anyway to include the notion of freedom in science? The answer to these questions lies in Kant’s notion of character. While probably all concepts of character are involved in the description and expl…Read more
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117How Not to Investigate the Human Mind: Kant on the Impossibility of Empirical PsychologyIn Eric Watkins (ed.), Kant and the Sciences, Oxford University Press. 2001.This essay reconsiders Kant's denial of scientific status to the discipline of empirical psychology, which have often been viewed as quite problematic. In the preface to the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science, Kant denies that psychology can be natural science proper. I argue that Kant's impossibility claim is based on a very specific conception of science that he did not put forward elsewhere, and that is restricted to *natural* sciences in any case. Also, Kant's critical remarks are d…Read more
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112Consciousness regained? Philosophical arguments for and against reductive physicalismDialogues in Clinical Neuroscience 14 (1): 55-63. 2012.This paper is an overview of recent discussions concerning the mind–body problem that have been taking place at the interface between philosophy and neuroscience. In it I focus on phenomenal consciousness or “qualia”, which I distinguish from various related issues (sections 1-2). I then discuss various influential skeptical arguments that question the possibility of reductive explanations of qualia in physicalist terms: knowledge arguments, conceivability arguments, the argument from multiple r…Read more
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98Crisis discussions in psychology—New historical and philosophical perspectivesStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 43 (2): 425-433. 2012.In this introductory article, we provide a historical and philosophical framework for studying crisis discussions in psychology. We first trace the various meanings of crisis talk outside and inside of the sciences. We then turn to Kuhn’s concept of crisis, which is mainly an analyst’s category referring to severe clashes between theory and data. His view has also dominated many discussions on the status of psychology: Can it be considered a “mature” science, or are we dealing here with a pre- o…Read more
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96Why does history matter to philosophy and the sciences? Editor's introduction.In Thomas Sturm, Wolfgang Carl & Lorraine Daston (eds.), Why does history matter to philosophy and the sciences?, De Gruyter. 2005.
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94Bühler and Popper: Kantian therapies for the crisis in psychologyStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 43 (2): 462-472. 2012.I analyze the historical background and philosophical considerations of Karl Bühler and his student Karl Popper regarding the crisis of psychology. They share certain Kantian questions and methods for reflection on the state of the art in psychology. Part 1 outlines Bühler’s diagnosis and therapy for the crisis in psychology as he perceived it, leading to his famous theory of language. I also show how the Kantian features of Bühler’s approach help to deal with objections to his crisis diagnosis …Read more
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82Kant und die Wissenschaften vom MenschenMentis. 2009.This book explores Kant's philosophy of the human sciences, their status, their relations and prospects. Contrary to widespread belief, he is not dogmatic about the question of whether these disciplines are proper sciences. Instead, this depends on whether we can rationally adjust assumptions about the methods, goals, and subject matter of these disciplines - and this has to be done alongside of ongoing research. Kant applies these ideas especially in lectures on "pragmatic antropology" given fr…Read more
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74Why did Kant reject physiological explanations in his anthropology?Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 39 (4): 495-505. 2008.One of Kant’s central tenets concerning the human sciences is the claim that one need not, and should not, use a physiological vocabulary if one studies human cognitions, feelings, desires, and actions from the point of view of his ‘pragmatic’ anthropology. The claim is well known, but the arguments Kant advances for it have not been closely discussed. I argue against misguided interpretations of the claim, and I present his actual reasons in favor of it. Contemporary critics of a ‘physiological…Read more
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74What Is the Foundation of Norms of Rationality?In Ansgar Beckermann, Holm Tetens & Sven Walter (eds.), Philosophie: Grundlagen und Anwendungen/Philosophy: Foundations and Applications., Mentis. 2008.An overview of debates about the relation between the psychology of human rationality and naturalized epistemology, introducing three papers by Michael Bishop, Gerd Gigerenzer, and Alvin Goldman.
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69Irreducible Mind? On E. Kelly et al., Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century (review)American Journal of Psychology 123 246-250. 2010.This is a review of a book that tries to re-establish mind-body dualism by using (a) empirical research on near-death experiences, placebo effects, creativity, claiming even that parapsychology should become a respected part of science, and (b) Frederic W. H. Myers' (1843-1901) metaphor of the brain as a kind of receiving device that records what the irreducible mind sends as messages. Among other things, we criticize the lack of philosophical clarity about mind-body relation, and question the b…Read more
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66Self-Deception, Rationality, and the SelfTeorema: International Journal of Philosophy 26 (3): 73-95. 2007.This essay is a plea for the view that philosophers should analyze the concept of self-deception more with the aim of having useful applications for empirical research. This is especially desirable because psychologists often use different, even incompat-ible conceptions of self-deception when investigating the factual conditions and con-sequences, as well as the very existence, of the phenomenon. At the same time, philosophers who exploit psychological research on human cognition and reasoning …Read more
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63Kant on the Ends of the SciencesKant Studien 111 (1): 1-28. 2020.Kant speaks repeatedly about the relations between ends or aims and scientific research, but the topic has mostly been ignored. What is the role of ends, especially (though not exclusively) practical ones, in his views on science? I will show that while Kant leaves ample space for recognizing a function of ends both in the definition and the pursuit of inquiry, and in the further practical application of scientific cognition, he does not claim that science is simply an instrument for achieving p…Read more
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55Psychology’s Territories: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives from Different Disciplines (edited book)Erlbaum. 2007.This is an interdisciplinary collection of new essays by philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists and historians on the question: What has determined and what should determine the territory or the boundaries of the discipline named "psychology"? Both the contents - in terms of concepts - and the methods - in terms of instruments - are analyzed. Among the contributors are Mitchell Ash, Paul Baltes, Jochen Brandtstädter, Gerd Gigerenzer, Michael Heidelberger, Gerhard Roth, and Thomas Sturm.
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51‘Kant our Contemporary’? Kitcher on the Fruitfulness of Kant's Theory of the Cognitive SubjectKantian Review 19 (1): 135-141. 2014.In chapter 15 of Kant's Thinker, Patricia Kitcher claims that we can treat Kant as , and that his theory of apperception new. I question this with respect to two of her four chosen topics. First, I address her attempt to show that Kant's theory of apperceptive self-knowledge is immune to sceptical doubts of the sort Barry Stroud presents. Second, I turn to her argument that this theory is superior to current accounts of the special authority of self-knowledge. Over and above specific weaknesses,…Read more
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46This essay aims to sharpen debates on the pros and cons of historical epistemology, which is now understood as a novel approach to the study of knowledge, by comparing it with the history of epistemology as traditionally pursued by philosophers. The many versions of both approaches are not always easily discernable. Yet, a reasoned comparison of certain versions can and should be made. In the first section of this article, I argue that the most interesting difference involves neither the subject…Read more
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43The Roles of Instruments in Psychological ResearchHistory of Psychology 8 3-34. 2005.What roles have instruments played in psychology and related disciplines? How have instruments affected the dynamics of psychological research, with what possibilities and limits? What is a psychological instrument? This paper provides a conceptual foundation for specific case studies concerning such questions. The discussion begins by challenging widely accepted assumptions about the subject and analyzing the general relations between scientific experimentation and the uses of instruments in ps…Read more
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39Tools=Theories=Data? On Some Circular Dynamics in Cognitive Science.In Mitchell G. Ash & Thomas Sturm (eds.), Psychology’s Territories: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives from Different Disciplines, Erlbaum. 2007.
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37Is There a Problem with Mathematical Psychology in the Eighteenth Century? A Fresh Look at Kant’s Old Argument. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 42 353-377. 2006.Common opinion ascribes to Immanuel Kant the view that psychology cannot become a science properly so called, because it cannot be mathematized. It is equally common to claim that this reflects the state of the art of his times; that the quantification of the mind was not achieved during the eighteenth century, while it was so during the nineteenth century; or that Kant's so-called “impossibility claim” was refuted by nineteenth-century developments, which in turn opened one path for psychology …Read more
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36What’s philosophical about Kant’s philosophy of the human sciences?Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 43 (1): 203-207. 2012.
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32Manfred Kuehn: Kant - A Biography (review)Philosophical Quarterly 54 (216): 476-479. 2004.Review of Manfred Kuehn's outstanding biography on Immanuel Kant. A critical point I raise concerns Kuehn's discussion of Kant's relation to Hume. Scholars are divided over the questions of (a) whether Hume was an actual inspiration for Kant’s Critical philosophy, (b) whether Kant’s defense really addresses Hume’s problem of causality, and, of course, (c) whether Kant’s arguments provide a satisfactory solution to the problem. Sometimes these questions are not clearly distinguished by interpret…Read more
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30The Self between Philosophy and Psychology: The Case of Self-DeceptionIn Mitchell G. Ash & Thomas Sturm (eds.), Psychology’s Territories: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives from Different Disciplines, Erlbaum. 2007.
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29What Did Kant Mean by and Why Did He Adopt a Cosmopolitan Point of View in History?In Stefano Bacin, Alfredo Ferrarin, Claudio La Rocca & Margit Ruffing (eds.), Kant und die Philosophie in weltbürgerlicher Absicht. Akten des XI. Internationalen Kant-Kongresses, De Gruyter. pp. 863-876. 2013.
Areas of Specialization
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Immanuel Kant |
Rationality |
General Philosophy of Science |
Philosophy of Psychology |
History of Psychology |
History of Cognitive Science |