"...we will always learn more about human life and human personality from novels than from scientific psychology." (Noam Chomsky) To what extent would you agree?

... Katedralskolan Uppsala Katedralskolan, Uppsala IB School Code: 1291 Session: May 2008 Theory of knowledge Supervisor: Göran Ericsson ToK Essay 5. "...we will always learn more about human life and human personality from novels than from scientific psychology." (Noam Chomsky) To what extent would you agree? Zack Lindahl Candidate code: 1291-037 Word count: 1550 Date: 2008 02 10 Zack Lindahl, 1291-037 The novel genre is per definition written fiction. The scientific study of behaviour and the mind, psychology, is based on research methods such as observations, case studies and experiments. At a glance, the main difference between these is that psychological methods are describing human personality through more or less empirical methods. In short, psychology is based on experience. However, despite the label of fiction, novels are often not branded as purely conjecture, but often attempts to realistically display human personality, based on the author's own experience. The naturalist author Emile Zola explained in his foreword of Thérèse Raquin that his aim

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