A History of Psychology: Ideas and Context

by Thomas Leahey

A History of Ideas and Context, Fourth Edition, is a comprehensive history of psychology tracing psychological thought from antiquity through early twenty-first century developments. The opening chapters present the reader with a dynamic framework for exploring psychology in the context of historiography and philosophical issues. The text provides in-depth coverage to the intellectual trends that preceded the formal founding of psychology in the late 1870s, coupled with an analysis of the major systems of thought and the key developments in the history of basic and applied psychology. The final chapter focuses on major trends in psychology from the latter half of the twentieth century to the early twentieth-first century.

Genres: Psychology, History, Nonfiction, Textbooks

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[B · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is literally the worst textbook I've ever had the misfortune of reading. It's more or less just a list of people who impacted psychology starting with ancient philosophers. It's bullshit revisionist history that glosses over basically anything unpleasant, including the myriad of human rights abuses perpetuated by psychologists in the early days of the discipline that continued at least until the seventies. There's almost no social context in regards to anything that happened after the second world war, almost nothing on how psychology was used to justify eugenics, racism, or homophobia.

It's weird to me that I've heard so many people hailing this book as feminist, because there's like three white women included in the whole 500 page book. It does a /little/ better with men of colour, but man.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I kept it from my undergrad and have referenced it in philosophy classes I have taken later. It hits the entire philosophical background to the discipline of psychology all the way back to Plato. It is concise in its descriptions and breaks down the sub disciplines of psychology really well. I am glad I had it on my shelf for my graduate work.

[Kaylee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this perspective view of the history of psychology and the philosophical background. The Author was a professor at my college and spoke to our class about William James which made it all the better!

[Joevarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, especially because of my term 1 class in my undergrad study. What I love here is that all theories about mind described since the earlier civilization, the golden age of Greece, middle age, renaissance and enlightenment era till the positive era (nowadays). Also, they introduced me with the three big force (school of thought) of psychology system. Reading this was simply an enjoyment.