A Wittgensteinian Perspective on the Use of Conceptual Analysis in Psychology

This edited volume features the works of a group of philosophers and psychologists who share the collective goal of demonstrating the powerful utility of a form of conceptual analysis - mostly closely identified with Ludwig Wittgenstein's later philosophy - for addressing various issues related to the coherence of scientific claim-making within contemporary psychology. In addition to a foreword written by acclaimed analytic philosopher, P. M. S. Hacker, the volume includes the works of a number of other internationally renowned experts in Wittgensteinian philosophy (e.g., Hans-Johann Glock, Daniele Moyal-Sharrock, Joachim Schulte, Meredith Williams), as well as contributions of psychologists and philosophers focusing in on more particular areas of application of conceptual analysis for resolving confusions within specific areas of psychological research or theory construction. As such, the work presents a nice balance between meta-level reflections on the relevance of Wittgenstein-inspired conceptual analytic methods to psychology and illustrations of concrete applications of such methods.

Timothy P. Racine is Associate Professor of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. His research interests include social cognition and the role of conceptual analysis and evolutionary explanation in psychology. He is co-editor of Moving Ourselves, Moving Others: Motion and Emotion in Intersubjectivity, Consciousness and Language (2012) and The Shared Mind: Perspectives on Intersubjectivity (2008).

Kathleen L. Slaney is Associate Professor of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Her research interests include methodological approaches within psychological science, philosophy of psychological and related sciences, and theoretical and applied psychometrics. She is recipient of the Sigmund Koch Award for Early Career Contributions to Psychology from the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology.