The New School Psych Society hosted an interdisciplinary discussion between the philosophy and psychology departments this past Thursday. The discussion consisted of panelists from both departments - who were all students.  The purpose was to discuss whether the fields of philosophy and psychology have anything to offer each other, and if so, what the relationship between the fields - and their associated departments - should be.

The idea for the discussion originated with Amy Barackman, a second-year student in the Psychology Master's program.  Amy had experienced several of these student-led "guerilla discussions" during her undergraduate education, and felt the concept would translate well to the New School. "Student-led discussions give students, who can sometimes be intimidated when experts are present, the chance to more freely express their ideas," Amy explained, in describing the rationale behind the idea.  In discussion with the rest of the Psychology Society, it became clear that several psychology students were interested in philosophy, and thought the two disciplines were relevant to each other.

Among the issues discussed by the panel was "Are psychology and philosophy merely exploring different subject areas, or are there fundamental differences in the assumptions the two fields make?"  In discussing this question, it became clear that talking about what "philosophy" or "psychology" think generally is a difficult task, since there are many different perspectives within philosophy, and within psychology.  So the answer to the question seemed to depend on which particular perspective is taken.

Panelists generally agreed that the two fields have something to offer each other, but that in many ways this should be an individual effort more than an institutional one.  It was expressed, however, that it would be beneficial if departments gave more freedom for students to explore areas outside of their own.

And as to the bottom line on what philosophy and psychology can offer each other?  Several panelists expressed the view that philosophy could help psychology by looking at the "big picture" that psychology fits into, and by constructive questioning of the assumptions of psychology.  In the other direction, some panelists felt that psychology could help philosophy by giving it a greater understanding of the mind, grounded in experimental feedback. All in all, the discussion seems to have been a success, and could be the beginning of further, informal talks between panelists and other interested students in the future.