Re-examining possibility of a positive psychology

Pages:16-20
Umesh L. Bharte (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)

What does the present paper has to offer to the ongoing debate of whether we should have a separate, new positive psychology? The preliminary contribution is three-fold. First, an attempt is made to situate the claim of novelty in the context of endeavours of positive psychologists in providing a kind of history of psychology to justify and serve their own purposes. Second, declaration of positive psychology as representing a paradigm shift is re-examined following Kuhn’s philosophical underpinnings. Finally, the questions related to pedagogy, and efforts to institutionalising positive psychology are posited. All of these lines have rarely been taken up in the debate about positive psychology, and when taken not for the concerns emphasised here. It is argued that only after embarking upon the issues raised in the paper, prerequisite to have a separate, new psychology for human strengths and virtues would adequately be evaluated.