The role of philosophy in criminal profiling: Epistemological and methodological analysis

Abstract

This article examines the fundamental role of philosophy in criminal profiling, with an emphasis on epistemological, methodological, hermeneutical, and phenomenological dimensions. Through an interdisciplinary analysis that integrates perspectives from the philosophy of science (Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos), epistemology (Quine, Goldman, Ross), hermeneutics (Gadamer, Ricoeur, Heidegger), phenomenology (Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Schutz) and the philosophy of mind (Polanyi, Ryle, Dreyfus), the study demonstrates how philosophical frameworks provide essential theoretical foundations for understanding the interpretative processes involved in constructing psychological profiles of unknown perpetrators. The research synthesises perspectives from forensic psychology and Western philosophical traditions to support the idea that profiling is not just a technical procedure, but a complex interpretative practice based on profound philosophical assumptions about the nature of knowledge, truth, causality and human understanding. By elucidating these philosophical foundations, the article contributes both to the development of theoretical criminology and to applied criminalistic practice.