Problem 1: Early roots of psychology (plato & Aristotle)

Question 1

Empiricism

Answer 1

-knowledge through experience
-most empiricists: knowledge is combining cognitive + external processes (mainly external)
-Hardcorde empiricists: knowledge is only external processes!!

Question 2

Nativism

Answer 2

-human traits can be explained by heredity
-knowledge is innate
-many nativists are hard core rationalists

Question 3

rationalism

Answer 3

-knowledge through logical reasoning / internal thinking processes
-some rationalists: knowledge through reasoning about sensory/perceptual perceptions
-hard core rationalists: perception is not necessary

Question 4

dualism

Answer 4

two realities: mind and body / the reality that we perceive and the reality that we do not perceive (world of ideas)

Question 5

idealism

Answer 5

-truth = ideas, everything can be explained by mental processes in the mind
- idealist = monist

Question 6

materialism

Answer 6

-reality = matter, everything can be explained from matter
-materialist = reductionist (explaining psychological phenomena from biological terms

Question 7

monism

Answer 7

• only one form of reality: mind or body
  -either materialism or idealism

Question 8

Plato:
-life time
-titles
-periods in life

Answer 8

-427-347 BC
-Dualist, Idealist, Nativist, Rationalist (DINR)
-First period: noting methods & thoughts of mentor Socrates
-Second period: using socratic method (knowledge can be obtained through reasoning) and pythagorean philosophy (sensory perceptions influence reasoning but are not necessary)

Question 9

Knowledge according to plato + worlds

Answer 9

-Knowledge: it must always be true (not sometimes) & must be rationally justifiable (substantiate)
-intelligible world/world of knowledge: ideal&forms = real knowledge
-world of appearances / world of opinion: our perception influences the ‘real’ knowledge

Question 10

Theory of forms

Answer 10

-knowledge is obtained through forms
-everything in the empirical world is a manifestation of a pure form (idea) that exists in the abstract
-sensory perception is the result of the interaction between pure form and matter

Question 11

the simile of the sun

Answer 11

-the form of the good is what the sun is to the physical world
-the sun illuminates object so that people can see them
-because the light is necessary to be able to see objects it equals = good

Question 12

the metaphor of the line

Answer 12

-knowledge through imagination (lowest form of understanding)
-knowledge through observation (incomplete because of use of senses)
-knowledge through mathematical relationships (incomplete because through assumptions)
-knowledge through perception of forms (highest form, only through rational thinking
–> the good is the highest form of wisdom

Question 13

allegory of the cave

Answer 13

fictional prisoners that spend their entire life trapped in a cave, looking at shadows cast on the walls of the roads behind them –> this is their reality
-once a prisoner escapes and sees the shapes responsible for the shadows = real knowledge
-shadows on the wall = world of appearances

Question 14

the ladder of love

Answer 14

-physical love = lust, sexual love
-general love = love for everybody and every soul
-love for art and philosophy = highest form of love

Question 15

according to plato, the soul consists of three components

Answer 15

-the rational soul (immortal, highest soul, rational needs)
-the spirited soul (mortal, includes emotional needs and is motivated by glory and fame and guilt and shame)
-the desiring / appetitive soul (irrational biological needs like lust and hunger)

Question 16

Aristotle
-lifespan
-titles

Answer 16

-384-322 BC
-Rationalist, empirist, monist/materialist (REMM)

Question 17

Aristotles ideas on forms

Answer 17

-we have matter and forms
-matter: shape + material
-forms:
–essential cause (definition/name of the statue)
–efficient cause (how it was made)
–final cause (the purpose of the object)

Question 18

Aristotles ideas on knowledge

Answer 18

-knowledge is a physical process that starts with perceiving objects and ends with general knowledge of forms
-special senses (isolated sensory info)
-common sense (combines different sensory input: imagination (interpretation) and episodic memory)
–> sensory perception is always correct, but errors are made in interpretation

Question 19

potentiality and actuality

Answer 19

-potentiality = possibilities (matter)
-actuality = when possibilities become real (forms)
–> actuality is the highest form of thinking