Top heavy apparatus of psychodynamics and cognitive psychology is at worst a fantasy and at best a metaphor - [04.11.98]

'From the point of view of a science of psychology, the basic entities are persons. People, for the purposes of psychology, are not internally complex. They have no parts. Each person, however, has many powers, capacities, abilities, and dispositions. There is no place in psychology for questions about the origin or grounding of such powers, except in the historical sense of what has led to this or that person being endowed with a certain ability, or what led to the local people valuing certain abilities and training their children in them.

There are no mental states other than the private thoughts and feelings that people are aware of from time to time. There are no mental mechanisms by which a person's powers and skills are implemented except the occasional private rehearsals for action in which we sometimes engage. The whole top heavy apparatus of psychodynamics and cognitive psychology is at worst a fantasy and at best a metaphor.'

[Rom Harre. [1998] The Singular Self. Sage: London. p.15]