Psychology as a Science

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Abstract

This paper tries to demonstrate that the truthfulness and usefulness of psychology as a science, although clearly distinguishable, can and often do go together very well. The criteria for the two concepts are relevance and veracity, respectively. Each of these criteria is further analyzed and differentiated. Together they compose a three-dimensional Knowledge-Relevance (K-R) model. This model proves to be useful in addressing various classical epistemological questions, pertaining to both the theoretical and practical dimensions of psychology. It is argued that a proper balance between pure and applied research has to be kept so as to serve the various relevant objectives of psychology as a science.