Aristotle's biopsychosocial model of psychology and conceptualization of character: Points of congruence with modern models of psychology

This dissertation had four basic aims: (1) to use English translations of Aristotle's work to illustrate his model of psychology and conceptualization of character; (2) to identify points of congruence between Aristotle's model of psychology and modern models of psychology that inform current clinical practice; (3) to illustrate the biopsychosocial and dynamic nature of Aristotle's model of psychology and conceptualization of character; and (4) to contribute to the ongoing and fruitful dialogue between the disciplines of psychology and philosophy. The author presents material from Aristotle's writings that provide evidence for the argument that Aristotle formulated a multidimensional, biopsychosocial and dynamic model of psychology and conceptualization of character that prefigured and is congruent with many aspects of contemporary models of psychology. Points of congruence between Aristotle's model of psychology and the following modern models of psychology were identified: biological/physiological models, evolutionary psychology, behaviorism, cognitive-behavioral therapy, Adlerian therapy, and positive psychology. The existent points of congruence between Aristotle's model of psychology and these modern models of psychology are identified and explicated in both the results and the discussion section. Both the illustration of Aristotle's model of psychology and the identification of points of congruence between his model and modern models of psychology that inform clinical theory and practice, makes Aristotle's model of psychology more accessible to students and practitioners of clinical psychology. To accomplish the above stated goals material was presented from the following sources: English translations of Aristotle's surviving works, writings from the works of Thomas Aquinas, material from contemporary moral philosophy, and material from modern and contemporary clinical psychology. The possibility of using Aristotle's model of psychology as a meta-theory to integrate material from various disciplines that study human experience is raised in the discussion section.