Psychology is described as separistic, divided into unrelated islands of knowledge even where unification would be possible. This separism is seen as anachronistic, an indication of the preparadigmatic state of the science. Unresolved schisms in science help to perpetuate this divisiveness and incommensurability. The schisms are due in large part to the lack of unifying theory that would establish connections between presently unrelated bodies of knowledge. The author describes a method and philosophy of theory construction, k the aim of which is the unification of various areas and theories of psychology as well as the resolution of traditional schisms in our science. He discusses the need to encourage efforts to create unified theory generally, such that additional examples of such theory emerge, as well as standards for evaluating these theories. Psychology has had the means for creating empirical knowledge in abundance, and it must now develop the conceptual tools to organize this knowledge.
Abstract