noun
- plural of psychologism; the philosophical doctrine that psychological facts or laws are the basis of all knowledge, logic, or ethics, or that non-psychological phenomena can be reduced to psychological ones.
- plural of psychologism; explanations or interpretations that attribute phenomena to psychological causes or motivations.
Usage: philosophy; formal
Usage: general
Examples
- The philosopher criticized psychologisms that reduced all logical truths to mental processes.
- Early 20th-century logicians rejected psychologisms in favor of objective mathematical foundations.
- Some scholars argue that certain psychologisms oversimplify complex social phenomena.
- The debate between psychologisms and anti-psychologisms shaped modern philosophy of mind.
- Critics contend that psychologisms fail to account for abstract, non-mental realities.