1. Modern scholastic usage. The division of the philosophy of nature (also called Special Philosophy of Nature) that studies living things, i.e., animated beings, which have souls. It is less often used in this sense today.  In post-rationalist pedagogy, such “rational psychology” was envisioned as a kind of “special” or specific branch of metaphysics. .2. Common modern usage. The study of the mind and behavior of human beings and animals.