Psycho-Logic - Smedslund, Jan

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Résumé :
Psycho-Logic is an attempt to formulate explicitly the implicit common-sense psychology embedded in everyday language and taken for granted by its users. The key concepts in this system are given definitions, and the basic assumptions are presented in the form of axioms. A number of corollaries and theorems are formally proved. The text also contains numerous notes in which the formal propositions and their broader implications are discussed. It is assumed that the relationship between psycho-logic and empirical psychology is analogous to that existing between geometry and geography. Psycho-logic and geometry both provide a formal system in terms of which one may describe and analyze respectively psychological phenomena and geographical terrains. The book should be of particular interest to practicing psychologists since it provides an analysis of the main characteristics of persons and person-interactions, emphasizing such concepts as care, respect, understanding and control.

Sommaire:
1 Being Aware and Active.- 1.1 Awareness.- 1.2 Activity.- 1.3 Reflectivity.- 1.4 Persons.- 1.5 Unity of the Person.- 1.6 Past, Present, and Future.- Summary.- 2 Wanting and Believing.- 2.1 Wants.- 2.2 Pleasure and Pain.- 2.3 Beliefs.- 2.4 Parallels and Interplay Between Wants and Beliefs.- 2.5 Moral Wants and Beliefs.- Summary.- 3 Feeling.- 3.1 General Characteristics of Feelings.- 3.2 Reflectivity of Feelings.- 3.3 Strength of Feelings.- 3.4 Positive Feelings.- 3.5 Negative Feelings.- Summary.- 4 Acting.- 4.1 The General Conditions of Acting.- 4.2 The Conditions of Can.- 4.3 The Conditions of Trying.- Summary.- 5 Characteristics of Persons.- 5.1 Wants.- 5.2 Respect.- 5.3 Care.- 5.4 Understanding.- 5.5 Control.- 5.6 Beliefs About Existence.- 5.7 Beliefs About a Shared Conceptual System of Psychology.- Summary.- 6 Personal Change.- 6.1 Types of Change.- 6.2 Open and Closed Systems.- 6.3 Changes in Acting.- 6.4 Changes in Can.- 6.5 Changes in Trying.- 6.6 Changes in Determinants of Trying.- 6.7 Change of Feeling.- 6.8 Changes in Subjective Identity.- Summary.- 7 Interacting.- 7.1 Some Elementary General Concepts.- 7.2 Taxonomy of Two-Person Interactions in Terms of the Control Concept.- 7.3 Cases of Interaction.- Summary.- 8 Epilogue.- 8.1 Is the System Transcultural?.- 8.2 Is the System Stable?.- 8.3 How Does the System Relate to the Empirical Tradition in Psychology?.- Appendix 1 Definitions of the System.- Appendix 2 Axioms of the System.- Appendix 3 Some Earlier Presentations, Critiques and Replies Concerning the Present Type of Approach.