Between I and We

The relationship between the individual and society has been a major topic in social sciences since their emergence in the 19th century. Yet it was only at the turn of the century -- when Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis - that the discussion of this relationship changed from a merely philosophical deliberation on the categories "individual" and "collective" into a discussion between two new disciplines with their own paradigmatic ambitions: sociology versus psychology. It is not by chance that, when hierarchizing the sciences, Auguste Comte did not consider psychology to be a science in its own right, but rather had to decide whether to assign it to either biology or sociology. As a matter of fact, in the 19th century, biology, representing "nature", was the actual counterpart to the abstract category of society. It was this reciprocal relationship on which Herbert Spencer founded his system of sociology. Thus, the triad sociology-psychology-biology, and the disciplinary combinations resulting from it, may be seen as the matrix of modern social sciences. It should be pointed out, though, that whether in the synthesis of macro-sociological Marxism and Freudian depth psychology, or in the combination of biology and sociology in US American sociobiology, the social dimension remained predominant, while the sociological explanation of collective phenomena was enriched by engaging in interdisciplinary discourses. But an interdisciplinary approach based on the full triad of sociology-psychology-biology is yet to be born. It is undoubtedly a very complex endeavour. All the more welcome is the engagement of Doron Pely and Igal Vardi in this book. One can only agree with their claim: "It is time to give a rapprochement between psychology and sociology another honest try -- this time around with the help of the bridging services of neurology".