Week 2 Early Foundation Flashcards
What is the concept of zeitgeist in historical studies
Zeitgeist refers to societal readiness for discoveries, where changes occur due accumulated knowledge and the right social conditions, not by mere chance
What is the Matthew effect
It describes how famous figures often receive more credit than they deserve, potentially inflating their contributions to history
What is the difference between presentism and historicism
Presentism judges past events by modern standards, while historicism understands them in their original context
What is animism and why was it important in early civilization
Animism is the belief that to are driven by spirits with human like intentions, it helped early societies explain natural phenomena
What was the scholastic method of learning
A: It relied on rote learning from authoritative texts, with facts accepted as unquestionable truths.
What is Socratic questioning?
A: A method of constantly questioning beliefs to find answers from within, still used in education to encourage critical thinking.
What are Platonic Forms?
Plato’s concept that all objects have an ideal, perfect form, and observed objects are imperfect copies of these ideals.
How did Plato view sleep and dreams?
Plato saw dreams as a release for desires, where rational thought could not control emotions, influencing Freud’s later ideas on dreams.
What is rationalism, as proposed by Plato?
Rationalism is the belief that truth is discovered through reason rather than sensory experience.
What is deductive reasoning?
A reasoning method that begins with known truths to reach specific conclusions, foundational in mathematics and science.
What is inductive reasoning, according to Aristotle?
A reasoning method that uses specific observations to form general conclusions, foundational to empirical science.
How did Aristotle’s view of the mind differ from Plato’s?
Aristotle believed the heart was central to life and emotion, while the brain cooled the heart’s “tempers,” giving it a secondary role.
What were Galen’s views on brain function?
Galen believed brain ventricles influenced behavior, an idea that shaped medieval thought on the brain.
How did Augustine contribute to the relationship between religion and science?
Augustine reconciled Christian doctrine with scientific discovery, proposing that knowledge is guided by divine illumination.
What is scholasticism?
Scholasticism is the adaptation of Aristotelian philosophy with Christian theology, emphasizing both faith and reason as paths to truth.
Who was Hypatia, and why is she significant?
Hypatia was an influential philosopher and mathematician in Alexandria who championed Neoplatonism and faced persecution as a high-profile woman.
What were Avicenna’s contributions to psychology?
Avicenna introduced hierarchical senses, psychosomatic treatment, and wrote The Canon, a key medical text in Europe.
How did Maimonides view the relationship between faith and reason?
Maimonides believed that religious texts could be understood through rationalism, advocating a harmony between faith and reason.
What is Ockham’s Razor?
A principle suggesting that explanations should be as simple as possible, avoiding unnecessary complexity.
What were the dominant ideas in early explanations for natural phenomena?
Animism and entelechy, where natural events were explained as having intentional, spirit-driven causes,
How did Platonic and Aristotelian views influence the concept of the soul
Their views formed the foundation for centuries of thinking on the mind, rationalism, and the relationship between the brain and the soul.
What role did the printing press play in the Middle Ages?
it facilitated the spread and reinterpretation of texts, allowing new ideas to
reach a wider audience
How did the heliocentric model challenge previous beliefs
Proposed by Copernicus and later supported by Galileo, it placed the sun at the center of the universe, challenging earth centered models
What is the recommended reading for this lecture?
Historical and Conceptual Issues in Psychology by Brysbaert & Rastle, focusing on key chapters available on Blackboard.
