phylosophical origins (1) Flashcards
What makes humans different from other animals?
They can anticipate far into the future
Lobotomy
refers to a neurosurgical procedure that serves connections to the prefrontal cortex
-> ngeative impacts on planning & sticking with goals
Goal
a cognitive representation of a future outcome that the individual is commited to approach or avoid
Frontal lobe
home to the hallmark of the human species
-> ability to anticipate the future
Motivation (definition Gollwitzer)
defined as the underlying process that provides energy & direction for behavior
Two aspects make up motivation
- Energy (inititation, Intensity, Persistance)
2. Direction
Three-step process to achieve a goal
- choose a particular goal
- develop plan of action
- initiate & persits goal-direction action
factors that guarantee life-sucess
- intelligence (not the focus anymore)
- Self-esteem (not the focus anymore)
- Self-control (willpower) !
Self-control
refers to our ability to regulate and change our own thoughts, emotions, and behavior
Hedonism
the idea that humans are motivated to pursue pleasure and avoid pain
Plato’s tripartite theory of motivation
- Appetite (epithymia)
- Rational (logistikon)
- Spirited (thymoeides)
- > three sources of the psyche were in constant conflict with each other
Aristotle’s principle of the golden mean
all things are best in moderation
Aristotle’s four causes
- material cause
- formal cause
- efficient cause
- final cause
material cause (Aristotle)
the physicial matierial that makes up the focus target
formal cause (Aristotle)
the arrangement, shape or appearance of the thing changing
efficient cause (Aristotle)
something aprt from the facal target that caused it to change
final cause (Aristotle)
the aim or purpose being served
Why? (most relevant for motivation)
Aristotle’s passions
- somatic (emotions associated with the body)
2. psychic passion (emotions associated with mind, pleasure and pains of the soul)
Aristotle’s two types of happiness
- hedonic happiness
2. Eudaimonic happiness
Hedonic happiness
the attainment of positive emotions and the absence of negative emotions
-> focus on the outcome (happy or not?)
Eudaimonic happiness
living a life that has meaning and that allows you to develop into the best version of yourself (focus on the content and the process)
The Stoics
-> emotions as a destructive motivational force
Saint Augustine
“the city of god”
-> all emotions are a choice of will
Saint Thomas Aquinas
- > Dueling mind and body (emotions are tied to the physicsl body)
- > two types of passion
Aquina’s two types of passions (emotions)
- concupiscible passions
2. irascible passions
Rene Descartes
-> mind-body dualism
6 primary emotions (Rene Descartes)
- Joy
- Sorrow
- Wonder
- Love
- Hate
- Desire
Materialism (Thomas Hobbes)
all behavior can be explained as a mechanistic response that follow the laws of nature
-> behavior consists of blind, automatic reactions to environmental stimuli
Tabula rasa (John Locke)
we are born without inherent ideas, urges, or knowledge
-> develop thoughts/desired through experience
David Hume
motivation included not only a belief component but also an underlying desire
-> direct vs indirect passion
direct passions vs. indirect passions (David Hume)
- arise immediately from feelings of pleasure and pain
- also experienced through pleasure and pain
- > but with an addition of beliefs associated with the object that is producing the pleasure or pain
The theory of utilitarinism (Jeremy Bentham)
arresting that utility of a particular course of action is determined by how much it
- maximizes happiness (pleasure)
- reduces suffering (pain)
Motivational Qualities (Bentham)
- Intensity
- Duration
- certainty
- Propinquity
- Fecundity
- Purity
- Extent
Felicific Calculus
a mathematical algorithm computing the utility of a particular action
(Jeremy Bentham)
Immanuel Kant
Reason is golden (emotions are illness of the mind)
two types of emotion (Immanuel Kant)
- Affect
2. Passion
Arthur Schopenhauer
will is the intangible active force of nature, the universe and mankind
