ABSTRACT
Most critiques of theorizing in psychology have focused on examples of what can be called the “pro-World” side of the Cartesian framework and have criticized those contributions from the vantage point of the “pro-subject/Mind” side of that viewpoint. Also, most theorizing about substantive issues in the field that has been offered as alternatives to dominant pro-World approaches reflects the pro-subject/Mind perspective. In the first part of this chapter, I critique a number of pro-subject/Mind approaches, including examples of theoretical work in several areas of the discipline, especially psychotherapy. In some cases, those efforts are not easy to recognize as variants of the pro-subject/Mind perspective, although they are. In fact, in some of those cases, theoretical efforts were expressly presented as attempts to go beyond the Cartesian framework in toto, even though they do not. Whereas work in psychology mainly proceeds in a manner that treats the pro-subject/Mind perspective as the only possible alternative to pro-World approaches, there is another alternative that transcends both sides of Cartesianism. This alternative, which I call the participatory perspective, takes as its cornerstone the view that the person is a participant always already engaged in practical activities. In the second half of the chapter, I discuss features of this perspective and how they depart from commitments reflected in most theorizing in psychology. I then illustrate how the participatory framework can serve as a guide for future theoretical efforts in the field by presenting two examples, 4E cognition and Interpersonal Defense Theory.
