psychologism
|psy-cho-lo-gism|
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/saɪˈkɑːlədʒɪzəm/
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/saɪˈkɒlədʒɪzəm/
explaining or reducing things to psychological causes
Etymology
'psychologism' originates from German 'Psychologismus', formed from 'Psychologie' (psychology) + the suffix '-ism'; 'psychology' ultimately comes from Greek 'psyche' meaning 'soul, mind' and 'logia' meaning 'study'.
'psychologism' developed via German 'Psychologismus' (19th century philosophical debates); 'Psychologie' came into modern European languages from Latinized Greek 'psychologia', which itself derives from Greek 'psyche' + '-logia', and the English noun 'psychology' yielded the English formation 'psychologism'.
Initially, the term referred specifically to the doctrine in philosophy that reduced logical laws to psychological processes; over time it has also come to be used more broadly for any tendency to explain phenomena primarily in psychological terms.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a philosophical doctrine that reduces logic, mathematics, or epistemology to psychological processes; the view that logical laws are grounded in human psychology.
Many philosophers of the early 20th century argued against psychologism, insisting that logic must be independent of empirical psychology.
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Noun 2
the tendency to explain behaviors, cultural phenomena, or texts primarily in terms of individual psychological motives or states.
Critics accused the reviewer of psychologism for attributing the author's choices solely to childhood trauma.
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Last updated: 2025/10/13 09:44