Foundations of Psychology

1
Foundations of Psychology

• Early Greek Philosophers source of most of our
  western ideas
• Medicine primarily early Greek and Roman
  involved a transition from mysticism to more
  scientific ideas

2
Early Greek Philosophers

• Thales
• Things in the universe consist of natural
  substances and operate through natural laws
• Use of mathematics to predict future events
• Stressed the importance of critical thinking

3
Early Greek Philosophers

• Pythagoras student of Thales
• Described a mathematical relationship between the
  physical world and our psychological experience
• Much of his work with mathematics became the
  basis for Western science
• Also important, he was a strong influence on a
  later philosopher, Plato

4
The Greek Physician Hippocrates

• Hippocrates made medical and psychological
  contributions
• Medical
• Diseases are the result of natural processes
• Help the body help itself do no harm
• Psychological
• Brain is the center of mental processes
• Epilepsy is a disease not an intervention of the
  gods
• One side of the brain controlled the opposite
  side of the body

5
The Roman Physician Galen

• 130-200A.D. court physician to Roman Emperor
• Reintroduced the brain as the center of thought
• Described the basic methods involved in what is
  now called psychological therapy
• Not always correct described the function of
  the heart wrong

6
Socrates

• A rationalist who used deductive reasoning
• Questioned everything, even things people were
  sure they knew
• Role of a teacher is to help students find truth
• Sentence to death for undermining the state and
  corrupting the youth

7
Plato

• Student of Socrates and used similar methods of
  thought
• Encouraged students to look for underlying
  realities
• Our sensory information is unreliable
• Platos Republic probably his most important
  work

8
Aristotle

• Student of Plato
• Used inductive reasoning instead of deductive
  careful observation better than pure rational
  thought
• Developed basic principles of memory that
  continue to be used today
• His use of inductive reasoning also led him to
  incorrect conclusions

9
Aristotle

• Became one of the most important influences on
  Western Philosophy and science
• However one idea was used by others to severely
  hinder the advancement of science for nearly 1000
  years

10
The Idea of the Unmoved Mover

• Teleology everything is directed towards a
  definitive end and a final purpose
• An acorns purpose is to grow to be an oak tree
• A girl is potentially a woman, but first an
  actual woman has to exist
• For all potential things to exist a being of pure
  actuality had to exist, the unmoved mover

11
Christianity and Aristotle

• Theologians combined the concept of the unmoved
  mover and the Hebrew religion to conceive the
  Christian God as a conscious entity
• Aristotle must have been divinely inspired

12
Christian Church and Science

• Aristotle became the final authority on all
  worldly affairsscientific exploration no longer
  necessary
• True knowledge can only be gained by ignoring
  sensory information
• These bodily functions are the source of most
  human problems - similar to Plato, but different
• These problems can only be solved by a faith in
  God

13
End of Roman Era Beginning of the Dark Ages

• In Europe, Christianity controlled all
  philosophical thought and the behavior of the
  people
• Aristotle the authority for all non-theological
  thought
• Greek and Roman writings were lost or destroyed
  mostly by neglect

14
Return of Science Latter Part of Middle Ages

• The works of Greeks and Romans still important to
  Islamic cultures and there works were translated
  into Arabic
• Islam spread across northern Africa and the
  Mediterranean
• Bringing these works had come back to Western
  Europe

15
Return of Science Latter Part of Middle Ages

• Reintroduction of Greek and Roman ideas led to a
  renewed interest in philosophy and science
• Served as a precursor to the Renaissance period
  and beginning of modern science
• Attention shifted from being God centered to
  being human centered use observation to learn
  about nature and the world

16
4 Themes of Renaissance Humanism

• 1. curiosity about human abilities and
  accomplishments
• 2. a desire to make religion more
  individualistic and less ceremonial
• 3. greater interest in the past
• 4. opposition to the mindless support of
  Aristotle as the authority on all things science

17
Renaissance Period

• Movement to science strengthened by findings that
  much conventional wisdom was wrong
• Copernicus change from a geocentric view of the
  universe to a heliocentric view
• Galileo and British scientists advanced the use
  of science and the scientific method