COGNITION, ETHICS, AND THE UNCONSCIOUS: ARTISTIC PSYCHOLOGISM IN ISAAC ASIMOV AND STEPHEN KING

Abstract

This article undertakes a comparative investigation of artistic psychologism in the science fiction of Isaac Asimov and the horror fiction of Stephen King. Despite the apparent generic distance between Asimov’s rational, scientifically grounded narratives and King’s explorations of psychological terror, both authors employ psychologism as a foundational narrative strategy. Asimov’s Robot series (1950-1985) and Foundation series (1951-1993) are analyzed as extended meditations on cognitive determinism, ethical decision-making, and the psychological dimensions of artificial intelligence. King’s major novels, including The Shining (1977) and It (1986), are examined as explorations of trauma, the unconscious, and the psychology of fear. The article argues that both authors, operating within different genre conventions, use artistic psychologism to probe the boundaries of human consciousness and to interrogate the social and psychological forces that shape individual behavior.