Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ
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SCIENCE

The Claim

In his book 'Naming the Mind', Kurt Danziger argues that psychological concepts, including intelligence, are not natural entities discovered by science but categories constructed through scientific practice.

The Short Version

The claim accurately captures the central thesis of Danziger's 'Naming the Mind' — that psychological concepts like intelligence are historically constructed through scientific practice rather than discovered as pre-existing natural kinds. Multiple authoritative sources, including book previews and peer-reviewed reviews, confirm this reading. However, the claim's phrasing is slightly more absolute than Danziger's own position, which leaves open the possibility that categories might track real divisions while denying this would result from superior empirical method.

Caveats

  • The claim's phrase 'not natural entities discovered by science' is somewhat stronger than Danziger's actual position, which is primarily an epistemological and historical critique of reification rather than a blanket ontological denial.
  • Danziger explicitly leaves open the possibility that current psychological categories might correspond to real divisions in nature, only denying that any such correspondence would be due to superior empirical methods.
  • Danziger's constructivist argument targets the specific historical forms these categories have taken, not necessarily the existence of any underlying psychological phenomena.

The Receipts

  1. Constructing the subject - Historical origins of psychological research

    Cambridge University Press

  2. NAMING THE MIND

    api.pageplace.de

  3. [Naming the mind: how psychology found its language] - ProQuest

    ProQuest

  4. Constructing the Subject : Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical ...

    Ovid (Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology)

  5. Danziger on Psychological Categories | PDF | Theory

    Scribd

  6. KURT DANZIGER "Naming the Mind: How Psychology Found its Language" (Book Review)

    proquest.com

  7. Naming the mind : how psychology found its language

    Stanford Libraries SearchWorks

  8. Constructing the Subject: Historical Origins of Psychological Research

    Goodreads

  9. Naming the Mind: How Psychology Found Its Language - Kurt Danziger - Google Books

    Google Books

  10. [PDF] Naming the Mind by Kurt Danziger | 9780803977631, 9781446226001 - Perlego

    Perlego

+ 4 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

History of PsychologyIntelligenceKurt DanzigerNaming the Mind

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