Philosophical Origins of Psychology Empiricism The pursuit of knowledge through the observation of nature and the attribution of all knowledge to experience. Mind-Body Problem The question of the distinction between mental and physical qualities. Reflex Action Theory The idea that an external object ( a stimulus) can bring about an involuntary response. 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) Positivism The doctrine that recognizes only natural phenomena or facts that are objectively observable. Materialism The doctrine that considers the facts of the universe to be sufficiently explained in physical terms by the existence of nature and matter. 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. Association The notion that knowledge results linking or associating simple ideas to form complex ideas.

Philosophical Origins of Psychology (page 3) 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. Mentalism The doctrine that all knowledge is a function of mental phenomena and dependent on the perceiving and experiencing person. Resemblance The notion that the more alike two ideas are the more readily they will be associated. 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) Repetition The notion that the more frequently two ideas occur together the more readily they will be associated. 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. 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) 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 Pierre- Simon 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.