Unit 2 Studying Flashcards
Sensation
The rudimentary mental experience that results from the stimulation of one or more sense receptors
Empiricism
The belief that all knowledge is derived from experience, especially sensory experience
Voluntary behaviour
According to Bain, under some circumstances, an organism’s spontaneous activity leads to pleasurable consequences. After several such occurrences, the organism will come to voluntarily engage in the behavior that was originally spontaneous
Associationism
The belief that the laws of association provide the fundamental principles by which all mental phenomena can be explained
Ethology
J.S. Mill’s idea, the explanation of individual personalities as opposed to human nature which provides information concerning what all humans have in common
Law of cause and effect
According to Hume, if in our experience one event always precedes the occurrence of another event, we tend to believe that the former event is the cause of the latter
Law of compound association
According to Bain, contiguous or similar events form compound ideas and are remembered together. If one or a few elements of the compound idea are experienced, they may elicit the memory of the entire compound
Law of constructive association
According to Bain, the mind can rearrange the memories of various experiences so that the creative associations formed are different from the experiences that gave rise to the associations
Law of contiguity
The tendency for events that are experienced together to be remembered together
Law of resemblance
According to Hume, the tendency for our thoughts to run from one event to similar events, the same as what others call the law, or principle, of similarity
Utilitarianism
The belief that the best society or government is one that provides the greatest good (happiness) for the greatest number of individuals. Jeremy Bentham, James Mill, and John Stuart Mill were all utilitarians
Rationalism
The philosophical position postulating an active mind that transforms sensory information and is capable of understanding abstract principles or concepts not attainable from sensory information alone
Anthropology
Kant’s proposed study of human behavior. Such a study could yield practical information that could be used to predict and control behavior
Monads
According to Leibniz, the invisible units that compose everything in the universe. 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 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
Direct realism
The belief that sensory experience represents physical reality exactly as it is. Also called naive realism
Dialectic process
According to Hegel, the process involves 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
The Absolute
According to Hegel, the totality of the universe. Knowledge constitutes the only true knowledge, and separate aspects of the universe can be understood only in terms of their relationship to this power. Through the dialectic process, human history and the human intellect progress toward this
Pantheism
The belief that God is present everywhere and in everything
Passion
Reduces the probability of survival, not associated with any particular thought
Emotion
Linked to a specific thought
Apperceptive mass
According to Herbart, the cluster of interrelated ideas of which we are conscious at any given moment
Will to survive
According to Schopenhauer, the powerful need to perpetuate one’s life by satisfying one’s biological needs
Romanticism
The philosophy that stresses the uniqueness of each person and that values irrationality much more than rationality. People can and should trust their own natural impulses as guides for living
Perspectivism
Nietzsche’s contention that there are no universal truths, only individual perspectives
Will to power
According to Nietzsche, the basic human need to become stronger, more complete, and more superior. While satisfying the will to power, a person continually becomes something other than he or she was
Existentialism
The philosophy that examines the meaning in life and stresses the freedom that humans have to choose their own destiny. Like romanticism, existentialism stresses subjective experience and the uniqueness of each individual
Aesthetic stage
According to Kierkegaard, the first stage in the growth toward full personal freedom. At this stage, the person delights in many experiences but does not exercise his or her freedom
Ethical stage
According to Kierkegaard, the second stage in the growth toward full personal freedom. At this stage, the person makes ethical decisions but uses principles developed by others as a guide in making them
Religious stage
According to Kierkegaard, the third stage in the growth toward full personal freedom. At this stage, the person recognizes his or her freedom and chooses to enter into a personal relationship with God
Dionysian aspect of human nature
According to Nietzsche, the part of us that seeks chaos, adventure, and passionate experiences
Apollonian aspect of human nature
According to Nietzsche, that part of us that seeks order, tranquility, and predictability
