Reductionistic Biological Thinking and the Denial of Experience and Pain in Developmental Theories

Abstract

The article questions current biological research in the behavioral field for both its reductionistic thinking as well as its disregard of the developmental process. The process of development cannot be understood merely as an unfolding of genetic forces. Research strategies attempting to do so distort the view of the actual relation of such forces to behavioral events. In doing so, they do violence to our views both of humans and of science. The quest for "objectivity" has blinded us to the obvious facts of our experience. This, in turn, has led to a pervasive misconception that controlling an emotion, such as pain, is the same as understanding what that emotion is as well as sharing it empathically. We have come to thinkwe know what is inborn and innate on the basis of a misconceived view of development. Such thinking expresses a generalized denial and devaluation of feelings.