Kostrigin A.A., Stoyukhina N.Yu. Speculative and Introspective Psychology in Russia in the XIXth - early XXth Centuries: Definition of Concepts and Their Borders

Abstract: The article considers the problem of formation of the Russian psychology in the XIXth - early XXth centuries. The authors analyze approaches of Russian researchers in the history of psychology to studying the structure of psychology in Russia during the aforesaid period. The authors note that there is no common terminological field and understanding of the content of areas in the psychological science. The traditional classification which distinguishes an experimental, empirical and religious-philosophical psychology is insensitive to those scientists and their concepts who worked in several directions or held certain views in the declared positions, but in their works used other ideas. The authors propose their own classification of directions of psychology in Russia in the XIXth - early XXth century based on the dominant method for obtaining psychological knowledge (speculation, introspection, experiment and measurement): speculative psychology, introspective psychology and experimental psychology. The authors examine only speculative and introspective psychology because there is the greatest uncertainty and ambiguity related to these directions, their representatives, concepts, and methods (speculation and introspection). The methods of historical and psychological research include structural-analytical method and method of analysis of the framework of categories and concepts. This theoretical study is methodological, approaches of representatives of speculative and introspective psychology are analyzed by the authors in terms of the subject and method of psychology. The authors have developed their own classification of directions of Russian psychology in the XIXthe – early XXth century offering a new basis, the method of obtaining psychological knowledge (speculation, introspection, experiment). In each direction the authors have defined two vectors corresponding to a particular conception of the nature of the subject of psychology: substantial psychology (soul as an independent substance) and functional psychology (psyche as a function of the brain and nervous system). The final classification is as follows: 1) speculative substantial psychology and speculative functional psychology; 2) introspective substantial psychology and introspective functional psychology; 3) experimental substantial psychology and experimental functional psychology.

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