Abstract
The literature on the history of psychology is expressive, in general, limited to its technical and scientific character. In this essay, we aim to leave the limits of the history of psychology to situate the place of psychology in history. When leaving these limits, we find that, for centuries, psychological contents were the object of reflections that marked an epoch, without the character of professionalism. This means that psychology is not a profession by nature, but became a profession and a science in bourgeois sociability. As a profession, psychology seeks certainty, precision guided by the standards of the society that constituted it. Thus, the professional psychologist insists on technicality, on the corrective, guided by his conception of man and society that does not consider the complexity of the web of social relationships that involve the individual and indelibly marks his uniqueness. As a profession, psychology is only part of the place it occupies in the course of history. We remember that “the secrets of the soul” are not always revealed by the precision of scientific knowledge, by professionalism, as the psychological knowledge of philosophers, writers, poets from distant or even close times attests.
Keywords:
History of psychology; Profession; Science