Meaning, Nature and Area of Psychology Meaning, Nature and Scope of Psychology
Meaning of Psychology (MEANING OF PSYCHOLOGY)
The word psychology is a Hindi version of the English word 'psychology', which is made up of two Greek words — Psyche and Logos. Logos means to think, study, etc. and Psyche has been interpreted differently at different times, such as soul, mind, etc. and as a result, the meaning and definitions of psychology There has also been a change in The following four stages of change can be marked mainly in the definitions of psychology.
1. First Stage (Science of Soul) - Greek in 16th century. Philosophers considered it a 'science to study the soul'. The names of Plato, Aristotle and Dacarte are particularly notable among these philosophers. But these philosophers could not succeed in explaining what the soul is? What is its nature This made people doubt the nature of the soul. The soul was said to be different from physical matter. The soul cannot be seen or touched, therefore its existence cannot be proved by experiment. Therefore, it is a matter of philosophy and not of science. Like the existence of the body, there is no real proof of the existence of the soul. The problem of the state of the soul cannot be solved by observing and experimenting nor can it be studied. To bring psychology to the level of science, it is necessary to bring it under scientific method. Now psychologists started searching for another meaning and definition of psychology.
2. Second Stage - Science of Mind - In the 17th century, the meaning of Psyche was attached to mind and consequently psychology came to be called the subject or science studying the mind. This meaning was associated with psychology for a long time. But later this definition of objections and criticisms in the same way
Had to fall prey to the first definition, the subject of 'soul studying'. Questions like its existence and nature were questioned and as a result, a new definition was started again.
3. Third Stage (Science of Conciousness) In the late 18th century, scholars called psychology the science of consciousness. In this, the names of William James, Wunt and Jens Salley etc. can be taken. In 1892, William James defined psychology, saying, "The best definition of psychology may be that it describes and explains various states of consciousness." According to them, psychology is the science of studying the conscious actions of man. Even scholars could not agree on this definition and objections were raised against it and this definition was called incomplete and the following arguments were presented.
What is the meaning of consciousness? The word 'Chetan' gives us a sense of our present conscious state, that mental process is not experienced in the present moment, it does not come under 'Chetan'. Psychology studies all mental processes. It is related to different levels of consciousness. According to Sigmund Freud, the eminent physician of Vienna, there are three levels of mind.
Concious (ii) Sub-concious (iii) Unconcious
In psychology, not only conscious emotions are studied, but also the processes of the semi-conscious and unconscious mind are studied. Psychology cannot remove semi-conscious and conscious levels from its field. Conscious processes are only a part of the mind. The majority of the mind is semi-conscious or unconscious. If psychology is only called the science of consciousness, then the majority of the mind will not come under psychology. One objection in this definition is that we are able to know our conscious experiences with great difficulty. In this connection, it can also be said that we cannot study the mental activities of others without observing 'behavior'.
A major reason for criticizing this definition started with the end philosophy method used in the study of conscious behavior. It can neither be possible to study your own experiences and conscious behavior by looking inside yourself, nor can it be made objective, valid and reliable in any way. One can describe or explain his personal experiences in any way, he can only reveal the properties by hiding his faults and in this way the limited study done in conscious state of behavior is also absolutely meaningless due to the unscientificness of the method of study It becomes the same.
Due to many such deficiencies, the then psychologists started searching for some other definition by abandoning this third definition of psychology.
