1: Historiography + Empiricism versus Rationalism Flashcards
(20 cards)
What were the conditions that led to radical changes forming the birth of modern psychology?
Disasters including famines, plague and extreme climate change led to people thinking differently and challenging existing authorities/established knowledge. This led to the Renaissance.
Who is René Descartes?
He was a french philosopher born in 1596 who argued that reason (reflection and thought) is the chief test of knowledge which challenged the idea that it came through senses. This lead to rationalism.
What is rationalism?
The theory that reason rather than experience is the foundation of certainty in knowledge.
What were some ideas that Descartes postulated?
- He believed in dualism - that the mind and body (a machine governed by the laws of physics/physiology - mechanistic approach) were separate.
- He believed that animals, who had no reason, were just complex physiological machines.
- I think, therefore I am (cogito, ergo sum)
- He formed the idea of structured skepticism and the deductive method.
- He was a nativist that believed that knowledge was innate.
- He was a rationalist who argued that mechanistic physiology is formed by the basis of reflex and the animal spirit.
- He even argued that the pineal gland is where the soul and body exchanged information as it was connected to sight.
What were some ideas that John Locke postulated?
- There is no such thing as innate knowledge. Our mind is a tabula rasa (blank slate) when we are born. Our knowledge comes from experience.
- Our senses form knowledge. It starts with sensations (what our senses detect) which makes mental copies that form simple ideas that can then form complex ideas which are a reflection of sensations.
- Knowledge and complex ideas are formed from the laws of association which are contiguity and similarity
What were some ideas that David Hume postulated?
- Reasoning alone can’t explain the world because we have ‘animal passions’ that form our basic emotions and drives. They influence how we think, therefore reasoning is not pure (a reflection of those feelings and experience itself).
- Hume also argues along with the laws of association, that there is another law which is cause and effect. Since it is formed by our experience, however, we cant really use it to predict the future.
What did Hobbes argue?
He argued that the mind and body are not separate but rather a part of the universe, making it entirely physical. Our minds, therefore, are governed by physical laws.
What did Pinel do along with Pussin to impact psychology?
After the French Revolution, they both considered the mentally ill to be inhumanely treated. They therefore treated them as reasonable persons who required extra consideration and conversation. He set up a system of observation and note-taking, viewing their conditions and the success of their treatments. This became ‘moral therapy.’ Forming the basis of modern clinical psychology.
What did Charles Darwin do to impact psychology?
After 20 years of publishing academic papers, he publishes “On the Origin of Species” which was the basis for evolutionary theory. This challenged the idea of a tabula rasa as species inherited physical/behavioural characteristics. It also contrasted the idea that humans and animals were completely different.
What characterises old history?
A change from the 1960s to 1970s led to the new history from the old. The old has been largely been seen as outdated/Whiggish (political understanding of history) and presumptuous by suggesting that the past led to the wisdom of the present. It was also internalist - not considering contextual factors and suffering from tunnel vision. It also only focused on great men, not one else, not even those who supported them.
How is new history different to old history?
- It is critical at history events and their examination instead of ceremonial, which is done to “honour thy forefathers”
- It is contextual and focused on the situation instead of being a history of independent ideas
- It is more inclusive instead of focusing on great men
- It is based more on primary sources instead of secondary ones which only generate myths.
- It focuses on trying to get into the thought of the period (historicist) instead of something written in the present about the past which focuses on the antecedents of current ideas (presentist).
What is microhistory?
A style of research which studies a small unit of a subject in-depth - such as a particular event, a rural community, a group of families or even just one person. Levi clarifies that is does not mean studying “small things” however, and that it is a small scale for analysis where a small community reflects a typical pattern of importance.
What do Italian microhistorians think about microhistory?
They suggest that the concept of new microhistory supposes that macro level phenomena are also present in the events that are illuminated in the micro approach. This leads to narrow coordinated enabling broader generalisations.
What were the origins of microhistory?
It was promoted originally by italian marxist historians who published many of their findings and research in the Quaderni Storici during a heated time for marxists and psychoanalysts.
What do microhistorians do according to Levi?
Microhistorians seek “answers” to “the great questions of history” by examining small-scale social dynamics. Early forms included the question of how we got from a medievel/feudal society to a modern capitalist one.
What are the three components of microhistory?
- It is a detailed and realistic description of human actions, reasoning, and beliefs, understood dynamically and in constant negotiation with a normative social system.
- The narrative has a three-
dimensional focal point, in which place, time, and action come together - Microhistorians often sympathise with figures that were marginalised by society and the ruling elites.
What is included in historiography?
- Historical facts
- Interpretation of those facts
- The idea that chronicles are not history
- Use of primary and secondary sources.
What does the history of psychology aim to understand?
It aims to understand how people in the past thought about how humans think and behave and why they entertained such a view. Therefore, context is very important.
What are some uses for the history of psychology?
- Register scientific advancement
- Perspective, a theoretical framework and a critical view
- Contributed to the knowledge about the human being and social dynamic of society
- Psychology has a historical nature and psychological ideas therefore need to be understood as part of historical discourse.
What was the context for the formation of rationalism?
17th-18th century: riddled with a social hierarchy, where the court of government had scientists and intellectuals work as courtiers (attends the royal court of royalty.) War was viewed as a continuation of religious conflict and the 30 years war lead to famine, disease, death etc. This lead to discourse and a new way of thinking.
