On the Uses of Psychology: Conflict and Conciliation in Benjamin Franklin
Document Type
Article
Department
Religion (CGU)
Publication Date
1966
Disciplines
History | Psychology
Abstract
Historians began to reflect on the applications of psychology when as a formal study it was still young. Mutual interest in the question of motivation made reciprocal borrowing seem natural and inevitable. Time has proven the interest more than a faddish attempt to be scientific or avant-garde. In 1957 William Langer, who had long been known for his meticulous, hard- headed scholarship, gave his blessing in his presidential address to the Amer- ican Historical Association. Earlier, historical applications of psychology had intrigued historians with a psychological bent and psychoanalysts with an historical bent; but the Langer address stimulated practicing historians of all sorts to examine more carefully the possibilities of the younger discipline. Discussion has continued in crescendo ever since.
Rights Information
© 1966 Wesleyan University
DOI
10.2307/2504444
Recommended Citation
Bushman, Richard L. "On the Uses of Psychology: Conflict and Conciliation in Benjamin Franklin." History and Theory 5.3 (1966): 225-40.
