The paper deals with a complex of issues relating to the current state and use of the category of “syndrome”, which until recently has been inclusive within the field of professional medical use and clinical psychology. However, since late 20th century, this category has been more and more often used when describing the specific manifestations of human psyche in the particular circumstances of life and activity with the absence of disease symptoms and presented a huge list of so-called “psychological syndromes” of the norm. In this connection, there arise a number of issues concerning the relations of new approaches to understanding the category of “syndrome” with past performances, and also research methodology, which determines task setting, the unit of analysis of human psyche and psychological syndrome-making determinants. The authors assume the answer to these questions lie in the methodology by L.S.Vygotsky and further syndrome analysis method by A.R. Luria. The paper provides a brief history of the notion of “syndrome” and its transition from medical study to psychology with the developed meaning based on the structure of higher mental functions in the neuropsychological paradigm. The basic structural components of the syndrome in system-dynamic relationship are discussed. Special attention is paid to the problem of “factor” as a common syndrome-making state which integrates symptoms into hierarchically organized circuit. Various aspects of the categorization are discussed, i.e. whether it belongs to the norm or pathology.

In the context of the syndrome approach development prospects, new issues of polycausativity syndrome appear in relation to the classical paradigm, with compensatory symptoms, the need for statistical data verification, the role of individual supervision and others to be further included into the paradigm. The main current approaches of studying different syndromes using the potential of the Russian methodology of syndrome analysis, the basic principles of postnonclassical model of scientific rationality are considered.

The subject of this paper is to discuss the possibility of the applying modern philosophical concepts which allow to distinguish between types of scientific rationality (classical, nonclassical and postnonclassical), to elicit the theoretical and methodological principles of the functioning and development of clinical psychology. The work reveals that the basic provisions of Vygotsky’s cultural historical theory.

The methodology of Vygotsky-Luria syndrome approach commenced postnonclassical model of scientific rationality with postnonclassical vision and psychological research method, as well as with postnonclassical thinking of researchers. It was objectified, that the works of Vygotsky and Luria articulated general methodological requirements for organized study of the human psyche, which generally correspond to the requirements put forward by modern science as necessary to deal with complex self-developing systems. Certain argument have been found to prove that according to Vygotsky-Luria syndrome approach, psychological syndromes are described as dynamic structures that acquire the qualities of self-control, selforganization, self-determination and adaptive appropriateness, which give reason to consider them as open self-developing systems.