Humanism after posthumanism

Or qualitative psychology after the “posts”

Bibliographic Data

ID12733123
AuthorsBrinkmann (0000-0001-7579-1212, Aalborg University, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume14
Issue2
Pages109-130
Publication date2017-01-19
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQualitative Research in Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1478-0887 • E-ISSN: 1478-0895
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14780887.2017.1282568
OpenAlexW2579758531
LanguageEN
Citations received27
References cited30

Almost 25 years ago, psychologist and qualitative methodologist Steinar Kvale conjectured that psychology might become obsolete or redundant in a postmodern age due to the modernist legacies of this science. This, of course, has not materialized, but the question of redundancy reemerges today in new philosophical guises related to the rise of posthumanist philosophy and what has come to be known as postqualitative research. In this article, I aim to (1) introduce the posthuman and postqualitative critique of conventional qualitative research with an eye to its relevance for psychology, (2) introduce a distinction between ontological and advocacy issues concerning the post qualitative critique in order to (3) propose the idea that qualitative psychologists can accept much of the ontological theorizing developed by posthuman and postqualitative scholars, and yet advocate a humanist agenda for both scientific and ethical reasons. Historically, this was attempted by pragmatists such as James and Dewey. In short, the goal of the article is to sketch the contours of a qualitative psychology after the postqualitative critique, amounting to a form of humanism after posthumanism

Epistemology · Humanism · Posthuman · Posthumanism · Postmodernism · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Philosophy · Posthumanist Ethics and Activism · Psychology · Social Representations and Identity

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