The link between Philosophy, Psychology and HR.

The link between Philosophy, Psychology and HR.

This may seem like a strange title at first sight but bare with me,

Going back to the time of the first Pharaohs and through to the time of the Greek scholars and all the way through to about the seventeenth century; Philosophy was about seeking out and understanding the truth of things.

It focus was on: How Nature worked and its relationship with other things.

Natural Philosophy encompassed all the sciences of the day.

With the rise of science, philosophy became divided into many different aspects and relabelled into sectors more suitable for those studying those sectors. In some ways, Philosophy became something of a less serious subject and people often joke about it.

As we moved into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we being to see the rise in Mind Medicine.

It is no coincidence that the many wars of the periods produced many Mind Medicine candidates. Warfare was becoming more mechanised and the ability to kill and maim was moving into a more industrial structure.

Killing and intense fears lead to changes in most people. So; as the wars progressed, there were more and more Mind Medicine candidates.

Eventually; World War 1 produced a vast amount of walking wounded with Mind Injuries, with few actually being treated or diagnosed.

World War 2 was a similar but different war, with war being fought on different scales, with different types (Air) and with different types of atrocities being carried out.

Because of improved medicine, more people survived combat; and being a civilian in war zones.

The number of people suffering or experiencing issues related to Mind Trauma increased and added to those from World War 1.

World War 2 was quickly followed by many other conflicts and wars. Korea, Vietnam, China, Africa, the middle East, Tibet and other countries.

Increasingly in these modern wars, it is the civilian populations who are being used by many as a resource for military influences and to garnish the political influences that are sought by many.

Such large scale hostile influences on civilian populations produces a new type and scale of Mind Trauma, that unlike combat, can pass from generation to generation.

To better understand and treat these Mind Traumas, we had and have the growth of Psychology.

Psychology is about understanding the patterns, structures and influences of human behaviours; in different situations.

Through understanding the Confluences of these and the problems and challenges that they cause; we can better understand them and design and provide better solutions.

So; both Psychology and Philosophy are interested in the reality and the truth of things.

As we move on to HR, we move onto a modern phenomena. A combination of managing the needs of the Human Resource and compliance with the many different business and State requirements.

HR has moved to a position where it needs to have a foot in many different camps; often with many different and potentially conflicting issues that need to be managed.

I think we can compare the HR role to that of a medical GP (general practitioner).

For example; the GP is usually our first point of contact. For many problems they can prescribe us treatments and medications.

However; when you need specialist help, your GP will, you hope, direct you onto a specialist or area of specialist treatments.

I have met many HR people who try to undertake the role of the GP and also the roles of the specialist or area of specialist treatments.

Are they really harming themselves and those problems that they are being expected to manage?

In the business environment, with more employment and compliance pressures, where do the HR professionals draw their lines of competence.

And it is this that takes us back to Philosophy and Psychology.

HR and the issues that they are expected to manage have both a Philosophy and a Psychology attached to them.

If the HR person is not best placed to help with these issues, at what point should they be calling someone like me, or me?

I would hope that the answer would be; sooner, rather than latter.

Written by Guru David ?