Topic 6: Rationalism Flashcards
Passive Mind
a mind whose contents are determined by sensory experience
it contains a few mechanistic principles that organize, store, and generalize sensory experiences
the British empiricists and the French sensationalists tended to postulate such a mind
Active Mind
a mind equipped with categories or operations that are used to analyze, organize, or modify sensory information and discover abstract concepts or principles not contained within sensory experiences
the rationalists postulated such a mind
Rationalism
the philosophical position postulating an active mind that transforms sensory information and is capable to understanding abstract principles or concepts not attainable from sensory information alone
Spinoza (1632-1677)
equated God with nature and said that everything in nature, including humans, consisted of both matter and consciousness
his proposed solution to the mind-body problem is called double aspectism
the most pleasurable life, according to Spinoza, is one lived in accordance with the laws of nature
emotional experience is desirable because it is controlled by reason, passionate experience is undesirable because it is not
his deterministic view of human cognition, activity, and emotion did much to facilitate the development of scientific psychology
Pantheism
the belief that God is present everywhere and in everything
Double Aspectism
Spinoza’s contention that material substance and consciousness are two inseparable aspects of everything in the universe, including humans
also called psychophysical double aspectism and double aspect monism
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716)
believed that the universe consists of indivisible units called monads
God had created the arrangement of the monads, and therefore this was the best of all possible worlds
if only a few minute monads were experienced, petites perceptions resulted, which were unconscious
if enough minute monads were experienced at the same time, apparition occurred which was a conscious experience
Monads
according to Leibniz, the indivisible units that compose everything in the universe
all monads are characterized by consciousness, but some more so than others
inert matter possesses only dim consciousness, and then with increased ability to think clearly come plants, animals, humans, and finally, God
the goal of each monad is to think as clearly as it is capable of doing
because humans share monads with matter, plants, and animals, sometimes our thoughts are less than clear
Psychophysical Parallelism
the contention that bodily and mental events are correlated but that there is no interaction between them
Preestablished Harmony
Leibniz’s contention that God had created the monads composing the universe in such a way that a continuous harmony existed among them
this explained why mental and bodily events were coordinated
Law of Continuity
Leibniz’s contention that there are no major gaps or leaps in nature
rather, all differences in nature are characterized by small gradations
Petites Perception
according to Leibniz, a perception that occurs below the level of awareness because only a few monads are involved
Apperception
conscious experience
Limen
for Leibniz and Herbart, the border between the conscious and the unconscious mind
also called threshold
Thomas Reid (1710-1796)
believed that we could trust our sensory impressions to accurately reflect physical reality because it makes common sense to do so
Reid attributed several rational faculties to the mind and was therefore a faculty psychologist
Commonsense Philosophy
the position, first proposed by Reid, that we can assume the existence of a physical world and of human reasoning powers because it makes common sense to do so
Direct Realism
the belief that sensory experience represents physical reality exactly as it is
also called naive realism
Faculty Psychology
the belief that the mind consists of several powers or faculties
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
believed that experiences such as those of unity, causation, time, and space could not be derived from sensory experience, and therefore, must be attributable to innate categories of thought
he also believed that morality is, or should be, governed by the categorical imperative
he did not believe psychology could become a science because subjective experience could not be quantified mathematically
Categories of Thought
those innate attributes of the mind that Kant postulated to explain subjective experiences we have that cannot be explained alone
for example, the experiences of time, causality, and space
Categorical Imperative
according to Kant, the moral directive that we should always act in such a way that the maxims governing our moral decisions could be used as a guide for everyone else’s moral behavior
Anthropology
Kant’s proposed study of human behavior
such a study could yield practical information that could be used to predict and control behavior
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)
like Spinoza, believed the universe to be an interrelated unity
Hegel called this unity the Absolute, and he thought that human history and the human intellect progress via the dialectic process toward the Absolute
Dialectic Process
according to Hegel, the process involving an original idea, the negation of the original idea, and a synthesis of the original idea and its negation
the synthesis then becomes the starting point (the idea) of the next cycle of the developmental process
Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)
likened ideas of Leibniz’s monads by saying that they had energy and a consciousness of their own
also, according to Herbart, ideas strive for consciousness
those ideas compatible with a person’s apperceptive mass are given conscious expression, whereas those that are not remain below the limen in the unconscious mind
Herbart is considered to be one of the first mathematical and educational psychologists
Psychic Mechanics
the term used by Herbart to describe how ideas struggle with each other to gain conscious expression
Apperceptive Mass
according to Herbart, the cluster of interrelated ideas of which we are conscious at any given moment
What is rationalism?
empiricists describe a passive mind which acts in mechanical way
rationalists proposed an active mind that acts on information from the senses and gives it meaning
empiricists proposed that experience, memory, associations, and hedonism determine not only how a person thinks and acts but also his or her morality
for rationalists, there are rational reasons some acts or thoughts are more desirable than others; have to use knowledge and logic approaches to obtain truth, there are certain moral principles that exist, stress deductive approaches, Descartes is an early example
the two perspectives are not sharply dissociated
they blend together to become the perspective of psychology today
Who was Baruch Spinoza?
important and tragic figure
his work was cast aside, in conflict with the Church
challenged Descartes, if we followed Spinoza we would have a different psych
What was Spinoza’s idea of pantheism?
God is the unfolding of natural laws, God is in everything
denial of “human” understanding of God, we were not “created in his image”
proposed that God, nature, and mind were aspects of the same substance
God, nature, and mind were inseparable
God was nature, to understand nature is to understand God, God is present everywhere and in everything
What was Spinoza’s idea of double aspectism?
the mind-body issue was dealt with by assuming that the mind and body were two aspects of the same thing
dualist and monism perspective
draws from pantheism; thought: non-extended aspect, extension: material
every object is a thinking, material being
mental thought is in every aspect of the world; panpsychism
What was Spinoza’s idea regarding the denial of free will?
we really do not have free will
nature (God) is lawful
humans are part of nature
thus thoughts and behavior are lawful - determined
our “freedom” is realizing that everything that is must necessarily be and everything that happens must necessarily happen, because everything results from God
doesn’t mean we can’t intervene, can exert influence on the world
things happen for a reason
best life is when we do our best to understand God and what leads to certain things
What were Spinoza’s views on motivation and emotion?
pleasure: obtaining or engaging with clear ideas or existing with clear purpose
clear ideas: increase chances of survival, makes aware of different causes
pleasure comes from entertaining clear ideas, which are conducive to the mind’s survival
when the mind entertains unclear ideas, it feels weak and vulnerable
pain: entertaining unclear ideas, lowers survival chance because we become confused
get clear ideas through reason or rational reflection; engage with sensory information to transform it to something clear
What were Spinoza’s views on emotions and passions?
passion is a general upheaval not associated with a particular thought; emotions is linked to a particular thought; transformed through the application of reason
passions: overwhelming experiences, not associated with thoughts, very negative, freezes us, reduces survival
emotions derived from pleasure and pain; transfer emotions to people, objects, experiences; hate things that resemble objects of hate; tendency for humans to maintain a healthy existence
by rationally reflecting we control our passions
What was Spinoza’s influence?
major influence on humanist, psychoanalytic
early psychic determinist; psychological aspects of the mind can determine behavior
What was Leibniz’s disagreement with Locke?
disagreed with Locke, believing ideas did not come from experience
ideas are nonmaterial and cannot be caused by material activity such as sense activity
ideas must be innate, which means the potential for an idea
What was Leibniz’s idea of monadology?
life is everywhere; everything is made of living atoms called monads
the universe consisted of an infinite number of life units called monads
a monad is like a living atom; all monads are active and conscious
monads differ in clarity of consciousness in a hierarchy; some are less clear; differ in intelligence
in general, the hierarchy goes from God, the highest, to humans, then to animals, followed by plants and nonliving mater
have a dominant system of monads that make up the human mind or soul
all differences are saleable, quantitative differences
monads are never influenced by anything, just actualizes the potential it already has
Who was Nicolas Malebranche (1638-1715)?
was a French priest and rationalist philosopher and theologian
accepted Descartes’ interactionism
refined his view via Occasionalism
What is occasionalism?
God is the only causal agent in the universe
all entities provide occasions for divine interaction
the mind and body are separate, but our mental desires act as the “occasion” for God’s intervention
mind and body are separate, but mental desires and physical movements are mediated by God
What was Leibniz’s view on the mind-body relationship?
Leibniz proposed a psychophysical parallelism with a preestablished harmony
monads never influence each other; it only seems that they do
the mind and body appear to influence each other, but they do not interact in parallel; they work in harmony because God planned it that way
mind and body are set by God to be in agreement, but are not determined by each other
this is the best of all possible worlds; because it was the one that was created
What were Leibniz’s views on conscious and unconscious perception?
there are perceptions which are conscious and those which are below consciousness (petites perceptions)
as petites perceptions accumulate, their force causes apperception
What was Leibniz’s view on the law of continuity?
all differences in nature are characterized by small gradations
there are perceptions that are too small to notice; pile up so we can see them
What are limen, according to Leibniz?
threshold
when it exceeds the threshold it gets to our consciousness
petite perceptions: below the threshold
apperception: process of building up to the threshold
in unconscious, stuff is still sensed, even if we don’t recognize it
What was Leibniz’s legacy?
beyond active mind, not as influential
early psychophysicists were heavily influenced by him
Who was Christian von Wolff?
first person to use “psychology” in a book title
what psychology would look like when built upon British Empiricists
first faculty psychologist
Who was Thomas Reid?
rationalist
rival of Hume
thought that we do have knowledge of the world because we act like we do
What is common sense psychology?
because all humans are convinced of the existence of physical reality, it must exist
we can trust our impressions of the physical world because it makes common sense to do so
don’t need to deduce
have innate capacities to deal with the external world
What is direct realism?
sensations are an accurate reflection of reality immediately, not after the mind has operated on them
no need to postulate different processes
innate power of perception
What is faculty psychology?
reasoning powers of the mind include several faculties
more than a classification (as other faculty psychologists)
mental faculties were active powers of the mind
they actually existed and influenced people’s thoughts and behavior
could not isolate one faculty, all operate as a unified mind
they are innate
What was Kant’s idea of a priori knowledge and analytic judgements?
in the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant tried to extend the idea (rejected by Hume) of a priori knowledge (or knowledge achieved without sensory input)
this was in part the goal in order to address Hume’s skeptical ideas around causation
Kant argued that the very ingredients necessary for even thinking in terms of a causal relationship could not be derived from experience and therefore must exist a priori, or before experience
Kant argued that it (among other forms of knowledge) was actually the opposite of analytic = synthetic (e.g., it synthesized elements that were not tautologically related)
What is synthetic a priori knowledge?
Kant thereby proposed a new (previously contradictory) category of knowledge; synthetic a priori knowledge
these are truths that are not logically required to be true and do not require any experience to verify (so a priori)
the Critique of Pure Reason is an attempt to answer the question of how such judgements are possible
Kant uses the existence of synthetic a priori knowledge to justify the claim that the mind does not conform to its contents
instead, the contents of consciousness conform to the structure and working of the mind; the mind has priority over experiences
in other words, the mind has priority over reality; it is the mind’s categories that determine our experience
What were Kant’s views of categories of thought?
addition to our judgement that gives us our experience
categories of thought: unity, totality, time, space, cause and effect, reality, quantity, quality, negation, possibility-impossibility, and existence-nonexistence
Kant pushed the idea that the mind categorized its input based on its own organization
can’t make judgements without them because we wouldn’t understand it in a meaningful way
What was Kant’s view on the causes of mental experiences?
always structured by the categories of thought
our phenomenological experience (mental experience) is an interaction of sensations and the categories of thought
can never know the true physical reality just appearances (phenomena) that are controlled by the categories of thought
phenomena: what we have access to
noumena: never have access to the things themselves
sense impressions + categories = phenomenological experience (conscious, meaningful)
What was Kant’s view on the perception of time?
the mind adds the concept of time and space to sensory information
time is not an experience, but it is implied
they are both provided by an a priori category of thought
same with cause and space (what we experience is only what we take in through the mind)
What was Kant’s view on the perception of space?
the mind adds the concept of time and space to sensory information
they are both provided by an a priori category of thought
What was Kant’s view of the categorical imperative?
the rational principle which governs or should govern moral behavior
similar to older moral percepts such as the “golden rule”
lead to proper moral behavior of all people
difficult to uphold maxims all the time, but generally uphold universal principles
concerned with utilitarianism; goodness and badness are relative
rational principle at the core of all people, free will makes us accountable to others
Why did Kant believe psychology couldn’t be a science?
the mind could never be objectively studied because it is not a physical thing
the mind cannot be studied via introspection because it does not make itself amenable to analysis
What was Kant’s influence?
influence in cognitive psych; categories
perception in Gestalt psychology
J.J. Gibson and perceived cliff experiments in kids
What was Hegel’s idea of the Absolute?
universe is interrelated unity; totality of all
true knowledge is attained by relating isolated instances to the “whole”
understand their place in the Absolute to gain knowledge of something
What was Hegel’s ideas of the dialectic process?
our understanding progresses toward the Absolute by the dialectic process
first have a thesis (a point of view) and an antithesis (opposite point of view)
then have a synthesis (a compromise between the thesis and the antithesis), which is a new point of view
this new point of view now becomes the thesis for the next dialectic process
What was Hegel’s influence?
Hegel proposed the concept of alienation (self-estrangement)
later used in theories of Eric Fromm, Carl Rogers, and the existentialists
minds are capable of realizing we are not apart of the Absolute
situated in societies where we are ripped from our animalistic nature
Who was Johann Friedrich Herbart?
the first mathematical psychologist
talked about psych as separate from philosophy
How did Herbart view psychology as a science?
did not believe psychology could be an experimental science; can’t separate parts of the mind
believed that experimentation necessarily divided up its subject matter
the mind acts as an integrated whole therefore it could not be fractionated
What was Herbart’s view on psychic mechanics?
ideas had a force or energy of their own and the laws of association were not necessary to bind them
ideas have the power to attract or repel other ideas, depending on their compatibility
ideas attempt to gain expression in consciousness and compete with each other to do so
ideas can be created but not destroyed
can merge and connect with compatible ideas
most ideas are unconscious
push themselves to be clear and swell into conscious life, trying to maintain this conscious expression
What was Herbart’s view on the apperceptive mass?
the group of compatible ideas that are in consciousness to which are attending at given moment
thought we are having right now
things need to be compatible to come into conscious
some ideas might disguise themselves to get in
ideas outside the apperceptive mass (incompatible ideas) will be repressed by the powers of the ideas in the mass
unconscious can form strongly and push the conscious out of the way to becomes new perceptive mass
limen: the threshold between conscious and unconscious
goal was to mathematically express the relationships among the apperceptive mass, the limen, and the conflict among things
What were Herbart’s ideas regarding emotion?
Herbart also believed that ideas “resisted” repression, and that this repression was experienced emotionally
having unconscious ideas was emotionally unpleasant
having conscious (therefore consistent) ideas was pleasant
What was Herbart’s idea regarding educational psychology?
applied his ideas to educational psychology by offering suggestions on how to teach effectively
review material already learned
prepare students for new material by giving overview of upcoming material
present new material
relate new material to what has already been learned
show applications of new material
give an overview of next material to be learned
set apperceptive mass up in the right way so they learn
goal: instill good moral character, set up right apperceptive mass
What was Herbart’s legacy?
psych related to math
psychophysics: limen
influence on Freud; repression
Who was Johann Gottlieb Fichte?
Fichte distinguished between the “realists” and the “idealists”
set the stage for Romanticism
influenced by Comte
helping people to overcome feudal struggles; lead to greater human rights
willing engagement with the world
have to hold each other responsible
justify why people want to overthrow unjust systems
individuals that gives thing meaning
Who was Friedrich Eduard Beneke?
challenged Hebart; you need to incorporate the import of physiological data
all disciplines are derived from psych
fan of introspective methods
believed in categories of the mind
Who was Friedrich von Schelling?
transition between Enlightenment and counter
importance of subjective experience
mind and matter are aspects of the same (Spinoza)
emphasis of subjective experience
Who was Rudolf Hermann Lotze?
transitionary figure
taught a lot of people, so his ideas were influential
objective events act on senses through nerves to a central perspective
nervous system is a mechanical conductor of motion
challenged mechanistic and materialistic views
couldn’t reduce psychological to physiological
sense of self in psych
