470 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



THE IDEAL ASPECT OF PSYCHOLOGY 



G. J. Kirn, Northwestern College, Naperville 



Since I was introduced to the subject of Psychology 

 thirty-five years ago great changes have occurred in its 

 fundamental conceptions and definition. In some re- 

 spects there have been unexpected expansions and in 

 others equally startling limitations. I have no doubt 

 but that both have added much to the general interest 

 in the subject. During this time the definition of Psy- 

 chology has changed many times. At the earlier date 

 we defined it as the "Science of the Soul"; later we de- 

 fined it as the "Science of the Mental Life", the "Science 

 of Consciousness", the "Science of Human Behavior" 

 and more recently as the "Science of Behavior." 



The first change in definition grew out of the acute ob- 

 servation of David Hume, who asserts that no matter 

 how carefully he introspected he never found anything 

 to which the term "soul" could apply. He always found 

 himself conscious of a content but never of a so-called 

 container. The subsequent observations of philosophers 

 have confirmed Hume's position and have made the sub- 

 stance theory rather unpopular. That change in meta- 

 physical conception has made the original definition 

 of psychology quite inadequate. A second reason for the 

 changes is found in the separation of psychology from 

 its parent, philosophy. It has taken the course of the 

 other sciences which have proceeded to an intenser study 

 of their subject matter by abstraction and self limitation. 

 The psychologist proceeds oblivious of what other people 

 are doing in other fields, unless it be in the field of bi- 

 ology, for which psychology seems to have a special af- 

 finity. In some cases it appears as though psychology 

 is little more than a study in physiology. The third 

 reason is found in the disposition of the scientist to have 

 objective criteria for measurement. Consciousness is too 

 subjective and too individualistic to be the subject mat- 

 ter of science. Science must have objective data which 

 can be subjected to experimental investigation and math- 

 ematical measurements. And still another reason is 

 found in the pragmatic tendency of the age. The tend- 



