Topic 4: Renaissance Science and Philosophy Flashcards
Renaissance
the period from about 1450 to about 1600 when there was a rebirth of the open, objective inquiry that had characterized the early Greek philosophers
Humanism
a viewpoint hat existed during the Renaissance
it emphasized four themes: individualism, a personal relationship with God, interest in classical wisdom, and a negative attitude toward Aristotle’s philosophy
Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499)
founded a Platonic academy in 1462 and sought to do for Plato’s philosophy what the Scholastics had done for Aristotle’s
Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)
a Renaissance humanist referred to by many historians as the feather of the Renaissance
he attacked Scholasticism as stifling the human spirit and urged that the classics be studied not for their religious implications but because they were the works of unique human beings
he insisted that God had given humans their vast potential so that it could be utilized
his views about human potential helped stimulate the many artistic and literacy achievements that characterized the Renaissance
Giovanni Pico (1463-1494)
maintained that humans, unlike angels and animals, are capable of changing themselves and the world
he believed that all philosophical positions should be respected and the common elements among them sought
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
a Renaissance humanist who opposed fanaticism, religious ritual, and superstition
he argued in favor of human free will
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
was especially disturbed by corruption within the church and by the church’s emphasis on ritual
he believed that a major reason for the church’s downfall was its embracing of Aristotle’s philosophy, and he urged a return to the personal religion that Augustine had described
he accepted Augustine’s concept of predestination but denied human free will
his attack established church contributed to the Reformation, which divided Europe into warring camps
Reformation
the attempt of Luther and others to reform the Christian church by making it more Augustinian in character
this effort resulted in the division of western European Christianity into Protestantism and Roman Catholicism
Protestantism
the religious movement that denied the authority of the pope and of Aristotle
it argued against church hierarchy and ritual and instead wanted a simple, deeply personal and introspective religion like that described by St. Paul and St. Augustine
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
like the earlier Greek and Roman Skeptics, Montaigne believed there was no objective way of distinguishing among various claims of truth
his doubts concerning human knowledge stimulated a number of subsequent thinkers such as Bacon and Descartes
Ptolemy
the Greco-Egyptian astronomer whose synthesis of earlier and contemporary astronomical works came to be called the Ptolemaic system
Ptolemaic System
a conception of the solar system that has the earth as its center
during the Middle Ages, the Ptolemaic system was widely accepted because it (1) agreed with everyday experience, (2) was able to predict and account for all astronomical phenomena known at the time, (3) gave humans a central place in the universe, and (4) thus agreed with the biblical account of creation
Aristarchus of Samos (ca. 310-230 B.C.)
sometimes called the Copernicus of antiquity, Aristarchus speculated that the planets, including the earth, rotate around the sun and that the earth rotates on its own axis, and he did so almost 1,700 years before Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
argued that the earth rotated around the sun and therefore the earth was not the center of the solar system and the universe as the church had maintained
Geocentric Theory
the theory, proposed by Ptolemy, that the sun and planets rotate around the earth
Heliocentric Theory
the theory, proposed by Copernicus, that the planets, including the earth, rotate around the sun
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600)
accepted the mystical non-Christian philosophy of Hermetism and Copernicus’s heliocentric theory because he mistakenly believed that it supported Hermetism
he was burned at the stake for his beliefs
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
by observation and mathematical deduction, Kepler determined that elliptical paths of the planets around the sun
he also did pioneer work in optics
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
showed several of Aristotle’s “truths” to be false and, by using a telescope, extended the known number of bodies in the solar system to 11
he argued that science could deal only with objective reality and that because humans perceptions were subjective, they were outside the realm of science
Secondary Qualities
those apparent attributes of physical objects that in fact only exist only in the mind of the perceiver
for example, the experiences of color, sound, odor, temperature, and taste
without a perceiver, these phenomena would not exist
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
extended the work of Galileo by showing that the motion of all objects in the universe could be explained by his law of gratification
although Newton believed in God, he believed that God’s will could not be evoked as an explanation of any physical phenomenon
Newton viewed the universe as a complex machine that God had created, set in motion, and then abandoned
Primary Qualities
attributes of physical objects
for example, size, shape, number, position, and movement or rest
Deism
the belief that God’s creation of the universe exhausted his involvement with it
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
urged an inductive, practical science that was free from the misconceptions of the past and from any theoretical influences
Deduction
the method of reasoning by which conclusions must follow from certain assumptions, principles, or concepts
if there are five people in a room, for example, one can deduce that there are also four
or if it is assumed that everything in nature exists for a purpose, then one can conclude that humans, too, exist for a purpose
deductive reasoning proceeds from the general to the particular
Induction
the method of reasoning that moves from the particular to the general
after a large number of individual instances are observed, a theme or principle common to all of them might be inferred
Positivism
the belief that only those objects or events that can be experienced directly should be the object of scientific inquiry
the positivist actively avoids metaphysical speculation
Idols of the Cave
Bacon’s term for personal biases that result from one’s personal characteristics or experience
Idols of the Tribe
Bacon’s terms for biases that result from human’s natural tendency to view the world selectively
Idols of the Marketplace
Bacon’s term for error that results when one accepts the traditional meanings of the words used to describe things
Idols of the Theatre
Bacon’s terms for the inhibition of objective inquiry that results when one accepts dogma, tradition, or authority
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
believed that much human behavior can be explained in mechanical terms, that the mind and the body are separate but interacting entities, and that the mind contains innate ideas
with Descartes began comparative-physiological psychology, stimulus-response psychology, phenomenology, and a debate over whether innate ideas exist
Descartes also focused attention on the nature of the relationship between the mind and the body
Innate Ideas
ideas, like perfection and the axioms of geometry, that Descartes believed could not be derived from one’s own experience
such ideas, according to Descartes, were placed in the mind by God
Intuition
in Descartes’s philosophy, the introspective process by which clear and distinct ideas are discovered
Animal Spirits
the substance Descartes (and others) thought was located in the cavities of the brain
when this substance moved via the nerves from the brain to the muscles, the muscles swelled and behavior was instigated
Dualist
one who believes that a person consists of two separate entities
a mind, which accounts for one’s mental experiences and rationality, and a body, which functions according to the same biological and mechanical principles as do the bodies of nonhuman animals
Interactionism
the version of dualism that accepts the separate existence of a mind and a body and claims that they interact
What is the Renaissance?
the Renaissance is generally dated from approximately 1450 to 1600
moving past the Middle Ages
philosophy was distinct from theology
religion and faith were still important
Why did the Church’s authority start to decline?
Aquinas’s acceptance of reason and examination of nature as ways of knowing God
humanist philosophy: explore the potential of humans, shift in emphasis to understanding humans
exploration: Marco Polo’s exploration of central Asia and China, “discovery” of the New World by Columbus, Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe
invention of moveable type by Gutenberg (printing press)
What is Renaissance Humanism?
tendency to return to a more open-minded inquiry of earlier Greek philosophy
moved from more God-centered interests to more human-centered interests
humans had reliable sensory systems, reasoning powers, and ability to enjoy life (abilities were God-given)
Renaissance humanism denotes a strong interest in human beings
How was individualism a theme that characterized Renaissance Humanism?
the concern for human potential and achievement
the individual has the power to make a positive effect in the world
How was personal religion a theme that characterized Renaissance Humanism?
personal religion was the desire for a less formal, ritualistic religion
emphasis on religion experienced personally rather than imposed upon people by the church
How was interest in the works of Greeks and Romans a theme that characterized Renaissance Humanism?
intense interest in the works of the early Greek and Roman poets, philosophers, and politicians
desire to read and study original writings, not interpretations
Marsilio Ficino founded a Platonic academy in Florence to promote Plato’s works, some of which were yet undiscovered
How was anti-Aristotelianism a theme that characterized Renaissance Humanism?
wanted to stop the Church’s practice of strict adherence to Aristotelian science and philosophy alongside the Bible
Aristotle’s philosophy and Christian theology had created a complex set of rules, regulations, and beliefs that required blind acceptance to be a Christian
Who was Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)?
endorsed freeing the human spirit from the medieval traditions: principally attacked Scholasticism
focused on God-given human potential: paved the way from Renaissance art and literature
challenged religious and philosophical authority: paved the way for modern science
Who was Giovanni Pico (1463-1494)
proposed that humans have unique capacity for change; we can choose to accept any lifestyle and viewpoint
argued that all philosophical views were ultimately in agreement and all should be studied and assimilated into the Christian worldview; in essence, he sought peace among philosophical and religious views
Who was Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)?
opposed fanatic belief in anything; our understanding can’t be perfect
was generally critical of excesses of all kinds, both within the Catholic Church and the protestant religions
he wrote The Praise of Folly in which he attacked the church, philosophers, nobility, and superstitions
the fool is better than the wise man because the fool lives how they want and don’t subscribe to the specific rules of society
his criticisms may have led to Martin Luther’s actions
Who was Martin Luther (1483-1546)?
insisted on an intensely personal religion (each person is answerable only to God)
deemphasized ritual and church hierarchy
initiated the Reformation in 1517 by nailing Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg
had progressive ideas about sex and marriage
What was the Reformation?
led Protestantism, which denied the authority of the Pope and insisted that each person had the right to interpret the Bible for himself or herself
early Protestantism was grim, austere, and unforgiving
it also insisted on accepting the existence of God on faith alone; trying to understand Him through reason was foolish
What was the denial of free will?
Erasmus and Luther disagreed fiercely over the issue of free will
for Erasmus, humans have free will; without free will we have no responsibility, you need both free will and predestination
for Luther, free will is an illusion and humans are entirely subject to the will of God (or Satan): much firmer belief, laid formation for the argument that humans are machines
Who was Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)?
proposed an extreme form of Skepticism
blamed human rationality for most human problems
rejected science as a means of attaining reliable knowledge because scientific “truth” is in constant flux
believed sensations are illusory
did not share the optimism expressed by the earlier Renaissance humanists
his extreme Skepticism influenced Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes to develop their philosophical systems to be impervious to Montaigne’s doubts
What was Montaigne’s idea of anxiety and psychosomaticism?
Montaigne wrote that some conditions of the body (such as impotence) were not physiological problems but rather mental problems
by accepting we don’t have complete control of our body, we can gain functions back
What is the idea of contra academics?
opposed academics
disliked complicated philosophy
need to understand ourselves
Who was Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)?
cadavers were not allowed by the church
through his dissections he actually mapped out body systems
first to understand circulatory system
What were the names of other Renaissance Humanists?
Leonardo de Vinci (1452-1519): perception
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527): early social psychologists
Juan Luis Vives (1492-1540): educational scholar, understanding human behavior through physiological
William Shakespeare (1564-1616): detailed psychological portraits, how to love, understand honor
Olivia Sabuco (1562-1622): mind body relationship
How was the Renaissance a paradoxical time?
great human achievements, interest in human potential, unparalleled creativity
persecution, superstition, fear, wars, famines
What was Renaissance science and astronomy?
although astronomy is not directly relevant to psychology, it is worth beginning with a digression into how the neo-Pythagorean Ptolemic universe was destroyed
as you will understand, this destruction had radical implications that go beyond astronomy
it cast into doubt (yet again) the idea that the world had been created with a perfect, simple, comprehensible structure from which we could infer the existence of a benevolent or at least rational God
this opened the way for new ways of thinking about everything
Who was Ptolemy (2nd century CE)?
geocentric system of the universe: Earth is the center of all heavenly bodies (travel around the Earth is perfectly spherical routes)
matched what we perceive with our senses (phenomenologically makes sense)
allowed reasonable predictions (able to develop mathematics)
matched Christian theology with man as the center of the universe
Who was Aristarchus of Samos (310-230 BCE)?
believed that the earth rotates on its own axis and revolves around the sun with the rest of the planets
idea conceived 1,700 years before Copernicus
Who was Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)?
proposed a heliocentric universe (earth and other planets revolve around the sun), a clear challenge to Church dogma which amounted to committing heresy
this opened many questions regarding Church dogma: why are we favored? what else could the church be lying about?
What is Hermtism?
magical forces believed to be used to benefit humans
an innumerable number of inhabited worlds (solar systems) in which the sun is divine
Who was Giordano Bruno (1548-1600)?
he accepted Copernicus’s theory because it restored the divine status given to the sun by the ancients
convicted of heresy and eventually burned at the stake at Campo di Fiore in Rome
Who was Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)?
accepted the heliocentric position: it explained the universe in a simple mathematical harmony
proved many of the mathematical details of the Copernican system
anticipated Newton’s concept of gravity
insisted that all mathematical deductions be verified by empirical observation
What were Kepler’s ideas about perception?
found inverted images were translated to the cornea
do we perceive things accurately at all?
Who was Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)?
set out to explain the true mathematical reality that existed beyond the world of appearances
set out to correct misconceptions about the world and heavenly bodies
used scientific observations to exemplify laws and then followed by using mathematical deduction to describe the law, and thus, the universe
What is objective reality?
exists independently of an individual’s perception
includes what later would be called primary qualities; quality, shape, size, position, and motion of objects
What is subjective reality?
psychological experiences
require a sensing organ
later called secondary qualities; these are relative, subjective, and fluctuating, include color, sound, temperature, and taste
What was the conceptualization of the conscious experience as a science?
consciousness can never be studied by objective methods
conscious experience is made of secondary qualities which cannot be described or understood mathematically
major philosophical shift which made humans inferior to the real world outside of human experience
excluded from science much of what is now included in psychology
for Galileo, psychology could never be a science
Who was Isaac Newton (1642-1727)?
conceived of the universe as a complex, lawful machine created by God who then set in motion, after which He ceased involvement (deism)
God set everything in motion and then stepped back, not involved
most important contribution was his universal law of gravitation
What are the principles of Newtonian science?
God created the universe but does not actively intervene in the world (deism)
material world is governed by laws which have no exceptions
no place for purpose in natural law
Occam’s razor should be accepted
natural laws are absolute, but scientists may have to settle for probabilities rather than certainty
classification is not explanation
What was Newton’s idea of God’s influence?
although God is the creator of the world, he does not actively intervene in the events of the world (deism)
it is therefore inappropriate to invoke his will as an explanation of any particular thing or event in the material world
What was Newton’s idea of natural law?
the material world is governed by natural laws and there are no exceptions to these laws
What was Newton’s idea of anti-teleology?
there is no place for purpose in natural law, and therefore Aristotle’s final causes must be rejected
explain in terms of the forces that act on it, not the purpose
psychology violates this principle
What was Newton’s idea of the acceptance of Occam’s razor?
Occam’s razor is to be accepted
explanations must always be as simple as possible
have to do this in all forms
What was Newton’s idea of probabilistic interference?
natural laws are absolute, but at any given time our understanding is imperfect
therefore, scientists often need to settle for probabilities rather than certainty
this is because of human ignorance, not because of any variance in natural laws
What was Newton’s idea of classification versus explanation?
classification is not explanation
chasing cats is a characteristic of dogs, doesn’t explain why dogs chase cats
What was Newtonian optics?
distinction between stimulus and interpretation of stimulus
Newton did work directly on some psychological issues; notably, in his study of optics
he was the first to decompose white light into the component colors of the spectrum
he did not believe that light rays themselves had color
What are the implications of Newtonian optics?
bees see ultraviolet light and light polarization so they get information that we do not from the visual world
the difference between stimulus and subjective experience is vital in psychology
we do not have direct access to the world as it is, but only meditated access, to one way it can appear to be
Who is Francis Bacon (1561-1626)?
demanded that science be based on induction rather than deduction
argued that science should only include facts of observation
maintained that science should not include theories, hypotheses, mathematics, or deductive methods; should be rooted in facts obtained by observing the world itself
radical empiricist, stressed objectivity
What is Baconian Science?
de-emphasized mathematics
what we can see with our own eyes
Bacon’s radical empiricism was later called positivism
generalizations could be made from many observations with their similarities and differences noted and could be used to describe classes of events or experiences
moving from particular to the abstract
lay aside opinion
don’t make premature generalizations
What were the four sources of error that could hinder scientific investigation (Bacon’s idols)?
idols of the cave
idols of the tribe
idols of the marketplace
idols of the theatre
What is the error of idols of the cave?
projective errors
the idols of the cave are personal biases that arise from a person’s intellectual endowment, experiences, education, and feelings
“to a person with a hammer, everything looks like a nail”
What is the error of idols of the tribe?
these are biases that are due to human nature
make things look like we want them to be
What is the error of idols of the marketplace?
these are biases that result from being overly influenced by the meaning assigned to words
descriptions and how we understand these definitions make us biased
What is the error of idols of the theatre?
these are biases that result from blind allegiance to any viewpoint, whether it be philosophical or theological
things we take for granted as being true because a person of authority told us it
What was Bacon’s idea of useful information?
Bacon was ahead of his time in insisting that scientists avoid bias
science should: provide useful information, improve the world for the betterment of humankind
Skinner and behavior analysis adopted the Baconian inductive method and the view that the main goal of science is to improve the human condition
experiments of light: find causal relationships
experiments of fruit: how to use causal relationships practically
What was Bacon’s error?
Bacon did not appreciate the role of hypothesis testing
to him this was another formal method that would shoehorn people into looking for certain kinds of explanations
Who was Rene Descartes (1596-1650)?
everything is open to doubt, wanted to develop a system immune to doubt
relied on self-exploration since nothing in philosophy was beyond doubt; “I think therefore I am”
through analysis of his own thoughts, he determined that some ideas are innate (natural components of the mind)
innate ideas were unity, infinity, perfection, axioms of geometry, and God
What are the four ideals of Descartes?
- never accept anything as true if it’s not objective
- break problems down into their simplest parts
- start with simple problems, move toward harder ones
- edit and review your work
What was Descartes ideas about innate ideas?
God will not deceive humans so we can trust sensory experiences
was a rationalist, a nativist (innate ideas), and a phenomenologist (introspectively study the nature of intact, conscious experience)
explained the behavior of animals including humans employing mechanical principles
ration processes are valid, analyze it rationally to determine validity
What was Descartes’s search for philosophical truth?
his method was a combination of intuition and deduction; restored dignity to purely subjective experience
in addition to the validity of rational processes, knowledge gained through the senses could be accepted because God, being perfect, would not and could not deceive us
sensory information had to be analyzed rationally to determine its validity
What was Descartes’s idea of the reflex?
believed the nervous system was a set of hollow tubes connecting the sense receptors with cavities in the brain (the ventricles)
the brain contained animal spirits which flow through the nerves resulting in sensation and movement
by explaining both animal and human behavior in terms of mechanistic principles and reflexes, he legitimized the study of animals
came to these conclusions based on animals
most people at this time knew there were two types of nerves
What was Descartes’s idea of the mind-body interaction?
unlike animals, only humans have a mind
the mind provided consciousness, free will, and rationality
however, the mind was nonphysical and the body was physical
the nonphysical mind and the physical body can influence each other, thus (regarding the mind-body issue) he was a dualist and an interactionist
he determined that the mind influenced the body at the pineal gland in the brain
had to be in the brain, unitary structure, uniquely human
emotions are the amount of animal spirits that are released
What is the importance of Cartesian Dualism?
Descartes’ model of the mind-body interaction has been enormously influential to the point that many accept it as “common sense”
as Ryle (1949) argued, Descartes’ view is that the mind is in the body as if it were a ghost in a machine
bodies are in space, subject to mechanical laws, public
minds are not in space, not subject to laws, private
What were Descartes’s contributions to psychology?
the mechanistic explanations of behavior and many bodily functions; could be said to have led to stimulus-response explanations and behaviorism
the focus on the brain as an important mediator of behavior
description of the mind-body relationship provided others the opportunity to support or refute it
studied the bodies of animals as a means to understand the functioning of human bodies; led to physiological and comparative psychology
he paved the way for the scientific study of consciousness
What was the relationship between Descartes and religion?
God is an essential force in his explanations
can only trust our perception because God won’t deceive us
What was Descartes’ legacy?
in any case, what followed Descartes was, in one way or another, a reaction to him
Who was Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)?
Pascal was a mathematician, philosopher, and theologian
his best-known work, Pensées, is not a rigorous philosophical text, but a pessimistic reflection on human life
he is perhaps most well-known for inventing probability theory, which is not insignificantly employed in modern psychology
What was Pascal’s understanding of knowledge and imagination?
imagination is the most powerful force, leads us to ignore reason
authority figures: project qualities onto them to make their authority greater
leads us to improper conclusions, but sometimes leads us in the correct direction
overcome the seductive power of imagination
What was Pascal’s wager?
in terms of probability theory, always believe in God because it has the best outcome
