The Renaissance and Early Modern Philosophers

1
The Renaissance and Early Modern Philosophers

• Psychology Philosophy Physiology
• Philosophical Themes
• Greeks
• Critical thinkingrationalism
• AtomismDemocritus
• Materialism
• Hedonism
• Platomind and body, pure forms
• Senses untrustworthy, nativism
• Aristotleobserve natural world
• Churchmen
• Faith over reason
• 13th Century (Aquinas) restoration of Greek
  philosophers
• Reason and faith compatible

2
Renaissance

• Pre-renaissance
• Human natureinnate, unknowable spiritual essence
  to be discovered by humans
• Renaissance
• Humanismsecular, multiple truths
• Classical sources
• Mechanism, natural philosophy, empirical science
• Physical universe
• Copernicus (14731543) and Galileo (15641642)
  humans not center of universe

3

• William Harvey (15781657)experimental study of
  circulation
• Isaac Newton (16421727)light, gravity
• The mechanical universe
• Determinism
• Reductionism
• Mechanism (including humans)

4
René Descartes (15961650)

• Philosopher, mathematician
• Soldier who craved solitude
• Devout Catholic proscribed by the Church
• Experimentalist, but gave priority to logic
• Rationalist
• Introspection

5
Descartes and Psychology

• Mind body
• Dualistinteractionism
• Soulthought
• Body an automaton that affects the mind
• Hydraulic nerves
• Reflex action
• Doctrine of ideas
• Derived from experience
• Innateborn with tendency to develop ideas

6
Mechanism and Materialism

• Pierre Gassendi (15921655)-atomistism,
  materialism
• Julien Offray de La Mettrie (17091751)
• Materialist
• Body affects mind
• Animals have human emotions
• Humans as machinesvitalism
• Hedonism

7
Consciousness and Nature

• Baruch Spinoza (16321677)
• Pantheism
• Determinism
• Double aspectism
• Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz (16461716)
• Monadsrational, sentient, and simple
• Innate ideas
• Psychophysical parallelism
• Levels of consciousness
• Petite perceptions and perception
• Apperception and attention