Abstract

BRANCO, Paulo Coelho Castelo  and  CIRINO, Sérgio Dias. Functionalism and pragmatism in Carl Rogers' theory: historical appointments. Rev. abordagem gestalt. [online]. 2016, vol.22, n.1, pp. 12-20. ISSN 1809-6867.

It is possibly to identify in the theory of Carl Rogers many influences that deserve to be revisited. It is known that he was a careful thinker of the context about some ideas that affected the American academic culture. Such attention dialogs with the complexity of many influences on his work. This article aims to analyze some psychological and philosophical ideas that influenced Rogers. It is understood that the followings theories influenced directly Rogers' thought: the Functionalism of John Dewey, Leta Hollingworth and Kurt Goldstein, and the Pragmatism of John Dewey and William Kilpatrick. Through a critical-historical methodological perspective, it is elucidated how each perspective of influence was developed in the USA, in the universities of Chicago and Columbia. After that, we identified the theories contacted and elaborated by Rogers about each mentioned exponent. It was found that those appropriations, although punctual, were important for Rogers' circulation in the American academic context. However, it is a misunderstanding considering Rogers exclusively as a functionalist psychologist, or a pragmatist one, because he did not give continuity to those prospects. The study, finally, highlights the need for further investigations on other historical bases of influence in Rogers' theory.

Keywords : Carl Rogers; Functionalism; History of Psychology; Pragmatism; Client Centered Therapy.

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