Routledge Nothingness: Philosophical Insights into Psychology (History and Theory of Psychology)

This book addresses nothingness as not only the intangible presence of an emotional, cultural, social, or even political void that is felt on an existential level, but has some solid foundations in reality. The death of a loved one, the social isolation of an individual, or the culture shock one may experience in another country are examples of situations in which an external sense of absence mirrors an internal psychological and philosophical sense of nothingness. Not much has been explicitly written on nothingness in the history of psychology. On the other hand, nothingness seems to be implicitly embedded in many scholars' work. This duality of explicitly and implicitly expressed ideas about nothingness reveals how psychology finds inspiration in philosophy, and vice versa. The book aims to illustrate how the concept of the presence of absence―nothingness―fills a void in contemporary psychological theorizing. Review -[V]ery little has been said in psychology about -nothing,- a fact that makes this volume an important contribution to the discipline. The book itself brings together scholars who seem to be reconceptualizing their work from a -nothingness- framework. The effect is to create a scholarly space for psychological phenomena with which many will be familiar but that often escape the empirical methods of the social sciences. The volume covers a wide swath of nonempirical topics: for example, the psychological effects of one's personal and cultural history (chapter 4), the behavioral influence of considering possible futures (chapter 7), the transformations that take place in one who is keenly aware of who he or she is not (chapter 10). Readers familiar with dialectical reasoning and systems theory will be at an advantage because the very concept of nothingness often implies a more holistic dynamic between what is empirically evident and what is not (the -nothingness-). Overall, however, Nothingness offers a fresh perspective on psychology, one that can surely invigorate scholarship in the discipline. Recommended.- --J. Ostenson, Choice "[V]ery little has been said in psychology about "nothing," a fact that makes this volume an important contribution to the discipline. The book itself brings together scholars who seem to be reconceptualizing their work from a "nothingness" framework. The effect is to create a scholarly space for psychological phenomena with which many will be familiar but that often escape the empirical methods of the social sciences. The volume covers a wide swath of nonempirical topics: for example, the psychological effects of one's personal and cultural history (chapter 4), the behavioral influence of considering possible futures (chapter 7), the transformations that take place in one who is keenly aware of who he or she is not (chapter 10). Readers familiar with dialectical reasoning and systems theory will be at an advantage because the very concept of nothingness often implies a more holistic dynamic between what is empirically evident and what is not (the "nothingness"). Overall, however, Nothingness offers a fresh perspective on psychology, one that can surely invigorate scholarship in the discipline. Recommended." --J. Ostenson, Choice About the Author Jytte Bang is associate professor of psychology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She is interested in developmental psychology and developmental science with a focus on ecological and cultural-historical perspectives. Ditte Winther-Lindqvist is associate professor of psychology at Aarhus University, Denmark. She is a scholar occupied with phenomena central to the development of children and young people from a point of view of lived experience. Jaan Valsiner is editor of Transaction's History and Theory of Psychology series.