ABSTRACT
The ingredient I found their works to have in common is critique, a method of approach so subtle that it is easily misunderstood by the impatient. It seems to me particularly suited for application to psychological research, since it takes its point of departure from that which is given to the senses of the observer, ‘naturalistic’ study of human behaviour, as it used to be called. Now, the more apt but equally question-begging term is ‘ecological’. I am convinced that the advocates of this approach do not want to restrict themselves to the physical environment, and rightly so. They really mean to take a holistic view, to treat events in their full context. The question then becomes, ‘Where does it end?’ For instance, I cannot know everything before deciding to act, yet decide I must.
