Download Philosophical Origins of Psychology

Philosophical Origins of Psychology
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Empiricism
The pursuit of knowledge through the observation of nature and the attribution of all
knowledge to experience.
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Mind-Body Problem
The question of the distinction between mental and physical qualities.
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Reflex Action Theory
The idea that an external object ( a stimulus) can bring about an involuntary response.
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Derived and Innate Ideas
Derived ideas are produce by the direct application of an external stimulus. Innate ideas
arise from the mind or consciousness, independent of sensory experiences of external
stimuli.
Philosophical Origins of Psychology (page 2)
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Positivism
The doctrine that recognizes only natural phenomena or facts that are objectively
observable.
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Materialism
The doctrine that considers the facts of the universe to be sufficiently explained in physical
terms by the existence of nature and matter.
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Simple and Complex Ideas
Simple ideas are elemental ideas that arise from sensation and reflection. Complex ideas
are derived ideas that are compounded of simple ideas and thus can be analyzed or
reduced to their simpler components.
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Association
The notion that knowledge results linking or associating simple ideas to form complex ideas.
Philosophical Origins of Psychology (page 3)
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Primary and Secondary Qualities
Primary qualities are characteristics such as size and shape that exist in an object whether
or not we perceive them. Secondary qualities are characteristics such as color and odor that
exist in our perception of the object.
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Mentalism
The doctrine that all knowledge is a function of mental phenomena and dependent on the
perceiving and experiencing person.
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Resemblance
The notion that the more alike two ideas are the more readily they will be associated.
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Contiguity
The notion that the more closely linked two ideas are in time or place, the more they will be
readily associated.
Philosophical Origins of Psychology (page 4)
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Repetition
The notion that the more frequently two ideas occur together the more readily they will be associated.
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Creative Synthesis
The notion that complex ideas formed from simple ideas take on new qualities. The combination of mental
elements creates something greater than or different from the sum of the original elements.
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Rene Descartes (31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650)
“I think, therefore I am”
Descartes suggested that the pineal gland is "the seat of the soul" for several reasons. First, the soul is
unitary, and unlike many areas of the brain the pineal gland appeared to be unitary (though subsequent
microscopic inspection has revealed it is formed of two hemispheres). Second, Descartes observed that the
pineal gland was located near the ventricles. He believed the cerebrospinal fluid of the ventricles acted
through the nerves to control the body, and that the pineal gland influenced this process. Finally, although
Descartes realized that both humans and animals have pineal glands, he believed that only humans have
minds. This led him to the belief that animals cannot feel pain, and Descartes' practice of vivisection (the
dissection of live animals) became widely used throughout Europe until the Enlightenment. Cartesian
dualism set the agenda for philosophical discussion of the mind-body problem for many years after
Descartes' death. The question of how a nonmaterial mind could influence a material body, without invoking
supernatural explanations, remains controversial to this day.
Philosophical Origins of Psychology (5)
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Auguste Comte (19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857)
Positivism is an epistemological perspective and philosophy of science which holds that the
only authentic knowledge is that which is based on sense experience and positive
verification. Though the positivist approach has been a 'recurrent theme in the history of
western thought from the Ancient Greeks to the present day', the concept was developed in
the early 19th century by the philosopher and founding sociologist, Auguste Comte. As an
approach to the philosophy of science deriving from Enlightenment thinkers like PierreSimon Laplace (and many others), Comte saw the scientific method as replacing
metaphysics in the history of thought, and observed the circular dependence of theory and
observation in science. Sociological positivism was later expanded by Émile Durkheim as a
foundation to social research. At the turn of the 20th century the first wave of German
sociologists, including Max Weber and Georg Simmel, rejected the doctrine, presenting
antipositivist sociology.