Introduction to Metapsychology

Like any other general subject of study, metapsychology is not committed to a specific method, nor to a fixed belief system. It is the study of the origin, structure, and function of the mind and of the relationship between the mind or spirit and the physical universe. It is a study of the individual, his abilities, and his experience, as seen from his point of view.

It picks up where psychology, as the science of behavior, leaves off. Hence the name "meta-psychology" has the correct connotation of being a study that goes "beyond" psychology -- beyond the study of behavior to the study of that which behaves -- the person himself, and the person's perceptual, conceptual, and creative activity, as distinguished from the actions of his body. In this sense, "metapsychology" restores the original meaning of "psychology" as "the study of the soul, or spirit", and the applications of metapsychology reflect the perennial common goal of both therapy and religion, whether one calls this goal the attainment of sanity, of enlightenment, of happiness, or of salvation. We sometimes abbreviate "metapsychology" as "MP".

Until relatively recently, enlightenment was the exclusive concern of religions or spiritual disciplines, in their various forms, cultish or otherwise. Currently, certain forms of therapy (principally the various "Humanistic" or "Transpersonal" therapies, including Existential and Jungian analysis) have often also had a form of enlightenment as their goal, and some progress has been made towards understanding what needs to be done in order to attain this state. However, enlightenment, or high awareness and ability, and the non-material nature of a person or individual can also be the objects of a formal discipline, science, or subject of study whose purpose is the attainment of understanding of life at its deepest level.

Metapsychology (MP) ought to exist -- and, I think, at this point can exist -- as a generic field of study embracing the truths that have been discovered in all these disciplines. It does not need to be crystallized and fixated into a proprietary religion, cult, therapy, or belief system that bears a proper name or trademark. Rather, it can be, and ought to be, regarded as a legitimate discipline in itself, like physics, chemistry, biology, and philosophy. As such, metapsychology can improve our understanding of the various non-generic mental and spiritual disciplines, and it is no more incompatible with, say, Christianity or Freudianism than, for instance, the study of organic chemistry is incompatible with a study of Bayer's method of synthesizing aspirin or Exxon's method of refining oil. A study of metapsychology should lead to the discovery of basic truths that underly the various psychologies, therapies, religions, and belief systems and should, therefore, be able to relate these systems to each other.

Metapsychology is based on a combined phenomenological and pragmatic approach called the "being-centered method". If we hope to succeed in getting others to accept our viewpoint on the world, we must present this viewpoint in a way that others can accept, in a way that allows others to perceive the truthfulness (or falsity) of what we are saying, based on their own experience. This constraint also limits we to describing things that are a part of other people's experiences or congruent with those experiences. We cannot spin theories about hypothetical objects that are unrelated to common observations and expect to be believed.

Thus the pragmatic method and the phenomenological method converge in the being-centered method. If we cease talking about some hypothetical world outside of experience and limit ourselves to what people do experience commonly, then we are being both phenomenologists and pragmatists. Throughout our discussion of metapsychology, we will be constantly consulting experiences that all people have in common, as the basis for our assertions. The reader can, by consulting his own experience, verify or disprove for himself each of these points. The only claim for acceptance of the concepts of metapsychology is the assumption that different people have a great deal in common in what they experience and the way in which they experience it. This interpersonal commonality of experience is the fundamental truth which we are seeking in metapsychology. The truths we have discovered -- and hope to discover in the future -- can be applied to enhance greatly the quality of life.

Frank A. Gerbode, M.D.
Director, IRM