Deconstructing Graeme: Observations on Pragmatic Psychology, Forensics, and the Institutional Epistemology of the Courts

Abstract

Daniel Fishman's paradigm of pragmatic psychology seeks to mediate the culture wars between proponents of scientific approaches to psychology and proponents of postmodern approaches to psychology by constructing an epistemological framework that is serviceable to both kinds of approaches. The courts' position within the larger constitutional order severely limits their capacity to deploy the postmodernist aspect of pragmatic psychology. On the other hand, pragmatic psychology's scientific aspect could be of significant service to forensic psychology, because many complain that a weak scientific foundation severely limits the utility of forensic psychology to courts of law.