Introduction

Before setting out on this brief tour through the history of psy-chology, consider some general background. The first section of this chapter will raise a few questions about the nature of history itself and about the problems that one will inevitably encounter when taking on the role of historian. The next section presents some thoughts about why one should bother contemplating psychology’s history in the first place. The final section explores the various ways the history of psychology has been organized, referring briefly to some of the better known works in the field, and ends with a characterization of the approach taken in the present work.