Why does modern psychology not include the soul in its studies?

Question

I'm studying psychology, and it saddens me that we are viewed as sophisticated computers, where every action we do is somehow influenced by our cognitive brains, does the soul have no influence?

Answer 1

psychology does not deal with the soul. it deals with human behaviour. if you wish to study the soul, you might want to change your major to spiritual/religious studies.

Answer 2

Depends on what you are studying and whose philosphy it is.

The soul is not a quantified object, but any good psychologist should take it into account in terms of reaction, action and behavior.

The "soul" is probably given more credibility in clinical psychology rather than general psych

General psych is an overview of the discipline

The discipline made some mistakes in the past and tries not to repeat them.

To say that a "soul" gives characterists is akin to racial profiling.

Black people make less money, live in poorer neighorhoods and are angrier as a people. Therefore blacks tend to be more type A, more reactionary and more violent.

That is NOT how psychology works. It tries to be color blind, religiously blind and at times even sexaully blind.

You have to be able to PROVE beyound a doubt that SEX, RELIGION or RACE definately plays a factor. If you can't then yo assign traits to people based on responsies in a blind testing environment.

Thus elements that COULD be cataogriezed for the soul are measured and taken, they are just not labeled that way.

Originally Freud, is now largely ignored, said the foundation was based in Id (Satan, if you will), Ego (your free will), Super Ego (God or the Soul) and powered by the Libido (sexual drives).

This view is no longer held, although I tend to agree with a lot of what Freud said.

Answer 3

The real fun is, It is the soul of the person which is experiencing all the cognition through the mind and the body. Mind is an instrument of cognition.
Psychology is the logy-of-psyche. Psyche is an external phenomenon to the soul. It is inherent in the scope of the subject, that it can not include soul in it. But the name of the subject should be changed to include a broader perspective in it.

To study psychology without considering the soul is like treating a plant without considering its roots.

"spiritual psychology" is needed.

There is only one person on the earth who has given a complete analysis on this subject. His name is osho. You can find more about him, and his books and views on psychology on the web.

Answer 4

The concept of a soul, and in fact spirituality itself, need not necessarily be tied in with religion. In fact, (independent of religion), spirituality, mysticism, and the search for the source of our self-consciousness can be approached scientifically. That it hasn't yet, I think, is because it is, as you know, usually wrapped up in a religious package. Science hasn't yet explained precisely why we think of ourself as "I." While this doesn't necessarily mandate a metaphysical answer, it's one certainly worthy of investigation. I too wish the concept of "self" (or soul, or whatever, you'd have it called) would be more thoroughly investigated by science. Psychology might not be the place for it - I think it might have more to do with neurobiology. We may never know. I'm sorry you're disappointed with this "lack" of modern psychology, but perhaps it's something that's just not appropriate to be put in the scope of psychology. For that matter, Buddhism and many eastern religions have come closer to really examining the phenomena of a soul than science has. Maybe you should check out some of their teachings. I'm an atheist, but I'm always impressed with their rationality and sometimes very "scientific" investigations of what it means to be human. Good luck!

Answer 5

Interesting question but tell me, how would one go about studying the soul? Yes, the soul does have influence and it depends on whether it is filled with God's grace how our thinking is influenced is what I think. But then again, many people do not even believe that man has a soul.

Answer 6

I liked what psychology I went through in high school. Wow, thirty years ago now. Would like to expand on psychology maybe if I ever get the time. It's good for exposing immediate causes of problems in social orders and in individual makeup.

But sad to say, it is not the final answer to heal things.
It's not going to mention 'soul'. It focuses on inherited aspects and environmental impacts.

It's not going to teach anything about the future that is further out than ones nose.

When those with psychological problems are shown the promises that lie ahead for them through the Bible, it helps them to cope with the current problems they endure. Just like the rest of us.

Answer 7

I'm presently studying for my masters in psychology, and perhaps you haven't reached that level in your studies yet, but psychology is the study of the psyche, or soul.That we have been able to explain something that was previously unexplainable through scientific processes does tend to throw allot of people, but what you should consider is where you obtained your definition of what a soul is.

Answer 8

Sheesh! Science made an educated guess about evolution and look what happened. You want to do the same thing with the soul? You'll loose most of your clients if you piss of the Xians. It takes a deep seated delusion to keep the insurance payments rolling in.

Cheers!

Answer 9

Psychology is the antithesis of religion. The "soul" therefore was not a consideration for Freud and many of his followers//competitors.

Old Sigmond was an apostate Jew who wanted to deny God's authority over man, and actually sought to establish a belief sytem (psychology) that would replace, or at least displace the role of religion in men's lives.

Answer 10

Excuse me, you are mistaken. The root word breaks back to the Greek that means "study of the soul" which is very spiritual in nature if you think about it. The soul, which includes our character, will, our essense basically, is very important in the study of any human.