Task 3 Objectivity/Subjectivity - Body/Mind

Question 1

Dualism

Answer 1

view of the mind-body relation according to which the mind is immaterial and completely independent of the body. Central within religions and also in Descartes philosophy

Question 2

Cartesian theatre

Answer 2

The screen is the pineal gland and this can influences our behaviour, The pineal gland is the connection between mind and body (Descartes)

Question 3

Descartes

Answer 3

shelved his book which included the heliocentric model in the manner to create a new philosophy which might be compatible with the catholic church
o Was convinced that the soul has innate knowledge which could be recovered on the basis of reasoning

Question 4

Derived ideas (Descartes)

Answer 4

perception Produced by direct implication of an external stimulus -> Product of experiences of senses.

Question 5

Innate ideas (Descartes)

Answer 5

God Arise from mind or consciousness, independently of sensory experiences or external stimuli  Independent of sensory experiences.

Question 6

Mechanistic worldview

Answer 6

world view according to which everything in the material universe can be understood as a complicated machine; discards the notion that things have goals and intentions as assumed by the animistic view; identified with Descartes

Question 7

Age of enlightenment

Answer 7

name given to the Western philosophy and cultural life of the eighteenth century, in which autonomous thinking and observation became advocated as the primary sources of knowledge, rather than reliance on authority
o Played a role in the outbreak of the American independence war and the French revolution

Question 8

Positivism

Answer 8

view that authentic knowledge can only be obtained by means of the scientific method; saw religion and philosophy as inferior forms of explanation (Comte)
o Three messages given to the public:
1. Because science is based on observation and experimentation, and not on opinion and authority, it is always right.
2. Scientific theories are summaries of observations and, therefore, are always correct as well.
3. Because scientific knowledge is always true, it should be the motor of all progress (i.e. it must decide all choices to be made).

Question 9

Humanities

Answer 9

academic disciplines that continued the traditional study of the ancient classics, increasingly supplemented with teachings of contemporary literature and art (art, culture, philosophy)

Question 10

Romantic movement

Answer 10

movement in the late 1700s to early 1800s that reacted against the mechanistic world view and the emphasis on reason preached by Enlightenment; it saw the universe as a changing organism and supports everything that deviated from rationalism: the individual, the irrational, the imaginative, the emotional, the natural and the transcendental

Question 11

Roman catholic church

Answer 11

was inconvenient with the change that scientific knowledge is the preferred source of knowledge

Question 12

Protestant church

Answer 12

scientific knowledge is dangerous when not guided by religion, creation of earth was a problem

Question 13

Principa mathematica

Answer 13

book in which Newton presented his laws of physics (1687); considered to be the primary reason for the increased status of science (precursor of age of enlightenment)

Question 14

Natural science

Answer 14

o Movements are the result of forces

o Objects are attracting each other

Question 15

Individualisation

Answer 15

trend in a society towards looser social relations and a greater focus by individuals on themselves than on the groups they belong to
o Increased complexity of society: a creation of more connected and competitive society in which everybody struggled to maintain a sense of dignity and meaning
o Increased control by the state: Information gathering which was presented to the public gave the individual the feeling of standing out of the crowd
o Individuality promoted by Christianity: This religion puts an emphasis on the solitary individual, because each person’s private state of faith and relation to God is the essence of piety
o The increased availability of mirrors, books and letters: enhanced the interest in ourselves and impressions made on others

Question 16

Traditional rationalistic view

Answer 16

view according to which knowledge is obtained by means of reasoning; usually through deductive reasoning on the basis of innate knowledge
o Existence of inner knowledge (nativism)
o Reason is the source of knowledge
o Main research method: deductive reasoning
o Main application: logic mathematics
o Main proponents: Plato, Descartes, Leibniz

Question 17

Empiricism

Answer 17

view according to which knowledge is obtained by means of perceptual experiences; usually involves the idea of associations between ideas to combine the individual perceptions; also emphasis on inductive reasoning (more prevalent after age of enlightenment)
o No innate knowledge
o Perception is the source of knowledge
o Main research method: observation, experimentation, inductive reasoning
o Main applications: natural science
o Main proponents: natural philosophers, Locke, Berkeley, Hume

Question 18

Idealism

Answer 18

view within philosophy that human knowledge is a construction of the mind and does not necessarily correspond to an outside world; the truth of knowledge depends on the coherence with the rest of the knowledge in the social group (Berkley)

Question 19

Realism

Answer 19

view within philosophy that human knowledge tries to reveal real properties of the outside world; the truth of knowledge is determined by the correspondence of the knowledge with the real world (Scottish common sense)

Question 20

Rational psychology

Answer 20

It starts from self-evident truths (axioms) and on the basis of deductive reasoning, these axioms would lead to ‘demonstration’ of new knowledge. This approach guaranteed true conclusions about human soul and allowed for more involvement than simple observation.

Question 21

Empirical Psychology

Answer 21

Built on introspection. Human mind could perceive its own operations and use this information to build a science of psychology.
X Introspection – Research method consisting of a person looking inward and reporting what she is experiencing.
 Finally, Wolff suggested that psychology should use mathematical demonstration, called ‘psychometria’ (Newton).

Question 22

Kants view on Psychology

Answer 22

o 1. The outcome of introspection cannot be formulated in mathematical terms because there are no aspects of substance or space in inner observations, only time.
o 2. Inner observations cannot be separated and recombined at will, as is possible with outside objects.
o 3. The act of introspection by itself changes and displaces the state of the observed mind.
o 4. As a result, psychology can never become a natural science (let alone a proper natural science). It can at most be a historical doctrine of nature, a collection of systematically ordered empirical facts.

Question 23

Epistemology

Answer 23

o Rise of empiricism (Locke), which questioned the traditional rationalist view
o In its extreme form empiricism leads to idealism (human knowledge is a construction of the mind, which need not correspond to an outside world), as argued by Berkeley and Hume
o Kant sought to reconcile rationalism and empiricism by arguing that the mind imposes structure on the incoming sensory experiences and that it requires a coherent and constant input to make sense of the input
o Idealism was also put aside by Scottish common sense

Question 24

Two kinds of experience

Answer 24

1. Deriving from sensation  Sensory input.
2. Deriving from reflection  Mind operates sensations.
    Reflection without sensation not possible.

Question 25

Two kind of ideas

Answer 25

1. Simple ideas – Sensation and reflection. Received passively and cannot be analyzed or reduced (= elemental).
2. Complex ideas – Mind actively creates new ideas by combining simple ideas. Can be analyzed and reduced.
    Association – Notion that knowledge results from linking simple ideas to form complex ones.

Question 26

Two kind of qualities

Answer 26

1. Primary qualities – Exist whether or not we perceive it  Objective (size, shape).
2. Secondary qualities – Do not exist without perception  Subjective (color, odor, sound, taste).

Question 27

Mentalism

Answer 27

All knowledge is a function of mental phenomena and depends on the person perceiving or experiencing. Perception is subjective and does not mirror external world. Because all experience is within us, we can never know exactly the physical nature of objects.

Question 28

James Mill

Answer 28

 He believed that only kinds of mental elements that exist are sensations and ideas.
X Empiricism-associationism – All knowledge beings with sensations from which are derived higher-level complex ideas.
X Association is mechanical – Resulting ideas are just the accumulation or sum of individual mental elements.
 He believed mind had no creative function because association is automatic and a passive process.

Question 29

John Stuart Mill (son)

Answer 29

Son of James Mill. His thinking was influenced by research being done in chemistry. This differs from previous empiricists/associationists because they were influenced by physics and mechanics.