All of the above

In peering at the human through the metaphors that represent the major philosophical lenses of developmental psychology this section explored whether the human is a machine, an organism, or a context. The answer can be a resounding "all of the above".

• As far as people passively react to internal and external forces, they are mechanical.
• As far as people actively make choices about how they will react to and control the internal and external forces of their lives to progress toward inherent potential, they are organismic.
• As far as events and time shape people, they are products of their context.

Even though adherents to a particular lens may conclude that they are all mutually exclusive, each lens seems to provide the objective viewer with insights that can lead to a better understanding of human development.

###