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Dr. Joseph F. Rychlak (b. December 17, 1928) is an internationally renowned Psychologist especially well known for his work with theoretical and philosophical psychology. He developed a theoretical stance known as "Rigorous Humanism." This term refers to Rychlak's blending of agentic or volitional psychological theories with rigorous empirical methods and tests traditionally used in the natural sciences. Dr. Rychlak is the Maude C. Clark Professor in Humanistic Psychology at Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois.

Once a student of George Kelly, Rychlak continued in the personal construct tradition through his neo-Kantian analysis of causality.

Dr. Rychlak's work can be roughly divided in to two main areas: theoretical and empirical:

  • The theoretical area of his work is centered on exploring and understanding the theoretical and philosophical foundations of psychology.
  • The empirical area of his work, focusing on scientific experiments designed to empirically test his logical learning theory (LLT).

Notable Works

  • Rychlak, J.Introduction to Personality and Psychotherapy: A Theory Construction Approach Rychlak outlines the history of theory and philosophy in Psychology, distinguishing all theories into either Lockean, Kantian, or mixed-model approaches.
  • Rychlak, J. A Philosophy of Science for Personality Theory This text has been a foundational work for the subfield of Psychology, "Theoretical psychology."
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