Methodological substantiation of the theoretical psychology subject field

Abstract

The author’s position of the extended interpretation of the theoretical psychology subject field is substantiated in the methodological research. It realizes the principles, regularities and norms of the cyclic-deed approach and views it as a distinctive sphere of the reflective thought activity of metatheoretical dimension of an intellectual working out. In this epistemic context, evidences of significant features-differences in the subject matter of general and theoretical psychologies are presented. A substantive-normative features of removal and configuration as logical and methodological procedures of self-reflection of psychological science are revealed. Both advantages and achievements, and the sins and faults of methodological concepts of determining the subject of theoretical psychology are revealed. The basic theoretical disciplines of modern psychology are substantiated and the special position of canonical psychology of V. A. Romenets is indicated, which dialectically combines basic, symbolizing universal philosophical and psychological knowledge, as well as an extremely important place (in the destination - self-reflection, in methodologems positioning - metatheorising) of theoretical psychology among them. In particular, the four main components of the object of canonical psychology are outlined: as a philosophical-psychological direction of the modern human studies development, as a scientific-ideological «transition from the XX to the XXI century in psychological thought», as a metasystem of fundamental psychological knowledge and as the main current of psychology development by intellectual and semantic means of its self-reflection. Focusing on the study and construction of exemplary phenomena and events of human life, it acquires a cultural weight as a kind of worldview posture or meta-position of the vision and comprehension of the mental, because the super-complex metatheoretical construction encompasses «all the prominent theories that emerged in historical-psychological discourse» giving them a true, evidenced by act event, a sense of cognition, has a polyaspectic subject, which is integrally enters into the subject field of theoretical psychology. It is proved that the effectiveness of metatheoretical thinking is primarily dependent on the professionally competent methodologization and in its format – from the perfect secondary reflection (ie self-reflection) of fundamental theoretical works (directions, systems and other knowledge organization) of modern psychology. As a result of such deliberate work-activity, the four main vectors of development and enrichment of the subject of theoretical psychology are substantiated: a) situational dimension characterizes the professional realization (by goals, principles, norms, forms, substitutions, etc.) of psychological cognition as a perfect practice of thinking; b) motivational - highlights the key and newly emerging ideas of cultural-historical development of psychology (psychophysical, psychophysiological, psychosocial and psycho-diagnostic, on the one hand, and psycho-informational, psychocultural, psychosemantic and psycho-spiritual - on the other); c) action dimension is embraced by explanatory principles, methodological approaches and meta-approaches, non-classical and post-nonclassical search strategies for the proper performance of psychological researches, both theoretical and empirical, d) post-action dimension is the study and creation of the full-fledged categorical structure of psychological science.