Holzkamp's critical psychology and the functional-historical method: a critical appraisal.

Abstract

If we are to believe Holzkamp's autobiographical notes(Holzkamp, 1972, p. 207 f.f.), his first confrontation witha critical approach to traditional scientific study consistedof his dispute with a psychology-student — Irmgard Staeuble— about her Masters thesis. This was in 1964. This thesis wasconcerned with a problem in the area of research into biasesand was written from the view-point of the critical theoryof the « Frankfurt School» (see Jay, 1976). It was the repre-sentatives of this school — Adorno and Habermas — whohad begun to challenge the representatives of the traditional'positivistic' scientific theory, namely Popper and Albert (seeAdorno, 1978).These discussions about the foundations of traditional scienti-fic study primarily restricted to sociology, were to go down inhistory as the « positivistic conflict» or the « third methodo-logy conflict»! Two important themes in this debate concernthe problem of research into the interrelation between indivi-dual phenomena and the problem of values in scientificresearch.With respect to the first theme, there was the question ofthe possibility and necessity of the « pretence of totality »,a notion held on to particularly in (neo-) marxist circles. Doesscientific study consist of a series of detailed studies fromwhich insight into historical and social interrelations emerges,as it were, by chance? Or should one's attention in each detai-led study remain focused upon the historical and social contextin which the section of study being examined is situated, sothat the development of a meaningful overall view might beensured?

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