The Philosophical Roots of Psychology

Question 1

What is philosophy?

Answer 1

The love of knowledge and learning

Question 2

Who created the Macedonian Empire?

Answer 2

Alexander the Great

Question 3

Did the Roman empire have a caste system?

Answer 3

NO!
They did not have a strict casts system as Greece did. There was no strict caste system.

Question 4

What was the Byzantine Empire conquered by?

Answer 4

The Ottoman Empire

Question 5

What philosopher taught Alexander the Great?

Answer 5

Aristotle

Question 6

How did philosophy enter Abbasid Caliphate?

Answer 6

The translation and perseveration of the works of Aristotle and other Greeks

Question 7

Who was Abbasid Revolution against?

Answer 7

The Umayyad

Question 8

What are the two main branches of philosophy?

Answer 8

Epistemology and metaphysics

Question 9

What is epistemology?

Answer 9

The study of where knowledge comes from.

Question 10

What is metaphysics?

Answer 10

The study of the nature of the world

Question 11

Which philosopher proposed a dualistic universe?

Answer 11

Pythagoras

Question 12

Which philosopher gave a naturalistic view of the universe?

Answer 12

Democritus

Question 13

What did the Sophists believe?

Answer 13

That no absolute truth exists

Question 14

What did Protagoras believe in?

Answer 14

That truth is dependent on the perceiver and is partially determined by culture.

Question 15

What did Gorgias believe in?

Answer 15

That all things are equally false

Question 16

What did Xenophanes believe in?

Answer 16

That religion was a human invention

Question 17

What did Socrates believe in?

Answer 17

The truth is relative and that no truth exists beyond personal opinion.

Question 18

What did Plato believe in?

Answer 18

True knowledge can be attained only through reason and rational thought.
He was also more of a rationalist than an empiricist.

Question 19

What did Aristotle believe in?

Answer 19

That knowledge is gained through studying the world around us.

that rational thought came from information that is gained from sensory information.

Question 20

What did Aristotle believe were the hierarchy of souls?

Answer 20

1. Vegetative soul (plants): Provides growth, assimilation of food, and reproduction. He believed plants have this.
2. Sensitive soul (animals): It is what gives you sensory ability.
3. Rational soul: Functions of vegetative and sensitive souls plus ability of thinking and rational thought.

Question 21

Who was Al-Kindi?

Answer 21

An Arab philosopher who tried integrating Greek
philosophy with Islamic theology

Question 22

Who was Avicenna?

Answer 22

He added to Aristotle’s way of thinking and was an expansion of Aristotle.

He believed that a human can still be self-aware without their sense.

Question 23

Who was considered the first Muslim neuroscientist?

Answer 23

Avicenna

Question 24

Who was Averroes and what did he believe in?

Answer 24

He proposed an understanding of localized brain functioning.
This is an important point that is used in modern psychology.
Ex: The brain lobes

He proposed that dreams were collections of sensory information and thoughts of the previous days.

Question 25

Who is considered the father of modern psychology?

Answer 25

Rene Descartes

Question 26

What were the beliefs of Rene Descartes?

Answer 26

He thought that the fact one thinks means that they exist. “I think therefore I am”.

He sees the value of empiricism.

Question 27

What were some of the propositions that Descartes had that we still use in modern psychology?

Answer 27

He explains reflex systems
The brain contained animal spirits which flow through the
nerves resulting in sensation and movement.

Question 28

What were the beliefs of Hobbes?

Answer 28

A hedonistic theory of motivation

Question 29

Who was Thomas Hobbes influenced by?

Answer 29

Galileo

Question 30

What was the belief of Baruch Spinoza?

Answer 30

That pleasure comes from entertaining clear ideas, which are important to the mind’s survival.

That the mind, body, nature, and God are all the same substance and that they were inseparable.

Question 31

What were the beliefs of Gottfried Leibniz?

Answer 31

He believed that ideas are different from the material world and are an innate part of our mind.

Question 32

What were the beliefs of philosopher Immanuel Kant?

Answer 32

We can never know absolute truth

Proposed that the mind must add something to sensory data before.

Question 33

Who is often referred to as the father of empiricism?

Answer 33

Francis Bacon

Question 34

What were the beliefs of philosopher Francis Bacon?

Answer 34

that rationalism is not reliable since not everyone is rational even though they may think they are.

Question 35

What did philosopher John Locke believe in?

Answer 35

An idea is a mental image employed while thinking and comes from either sensation or reflection.

Question 36

What did philosopher George Berkeley believe in?

Answer 36

The world is not made of matter, but are the ideas of God.

Question 37

What were the beliefs of philosopher David Hume?

Answer 37

Contents of the mind come from experience

Simple ideas cannot be broken down further.

Question 38

What were the beliefs of philosopher John Stuart Hill?

Answer 38

1. If we understand the formation of character, we could improve society and mankind.
2. Declared that psychology was ready to become a natural science.