Early Foundations

Question 1

Zeitgeist

Answer 1

Preceding factors act as a precursor for a certain discovery to be made

Question 2

Matthew Effect

Answer 2

Attributes more success and credit to well known people
Causes inflation of their perceived impact

Question 3

Presentism (Stocking, 1965)

Answer 3

Looks at the past and interprets them in the values and context of the present

Question 4

Annism

Answer 4

Early civilisations relied on everyday practical knowledge to survive
Skill is based on manual labour

Question 5

Socratic questioning principle

Answer 5

Deals with hypothetical scenarios and justification of belief
Constant questioning is needed to ensure answers come from within

Question 6

Plato (427-347 BC) on variation

Answer 6

Objects seen are based on an ideal, which then becomes the template for other subsequent templates
Explains variation whilst having the same taxonomy

Question 7

Plato (427-347 BC) on sleep and dreams

Answer 7

Ideal towards rational solving of problems and control of appetite
Dreams are where base appetites flourish, and pleasure and violence takes over

Question 8

Rationalism

Answer 8

Sensory experiences are volatile and unpredictable
Inherent truths come from inherent knowledge

Question 9

Deductive reasoning

Answer 9

To arrive at conclusions there must be statements wtith inherent truth
Conclusion is an assessment of one statement in relation to the truth

Question 10

Scientific theories and deductive reasoning

Answer 10

Theories can be tested by using “a priori” innate facts to create more hypotheses based on conclusions

Question 11

Syllogisms

Answer 11

Type of deductive reasoning
Uses two premises and a conclusion

Question 12

Example of a syllogism

Answer 12

All men are mortal, Socrates is a man, and therefore Socrates is mortal

Question 13

Aristotle (384-322 BC)

Answer 13

Showed early signs of empiricism
Developed inductive reasoning

Question 14

Empiricism

Answer 14

The way of acquiring knowledge by cumulative perceptual experience

Question 15

Inductive reasoning

Answer 15

Sensory observations are taken and used to form a general conclusion
Accumulative in nature

Question 16

Scientific theories and inductive reasoning

Answer 16

Uses observed phenomena to try and generalise and create scientific laws of nature

Question 17

Example of inductive reasoning

Answer 17

Monday morning the sun rises, Tuesday morning the sun rises, so by inductive reasons the sun should rise on Wednesday morning

Question 18

Limitation of inductive reasoning

Answer 18

Just because something usually happens doesn’t mean it always will

Question 19

Entelechy (Aristotle)

Answer 19

Everything in nature has an innate function

Question 20

Aristotle’s four aspects of causation

Answer 20

Material, formal, efficient, final

Question 21

Aristotle’s geocentric model

Answer 21

All things are comrpised of earth, wind, fire and/or water
Air and fire came from the moon’s orbit
Earth is at the centre and other planets move around it

Question 22

Ptolemy’s modification of the geocentric model

Answer 22

Emphasised perfection and regularity through concentric circles

Question 23

Brain and behaviour in the Egyptians

Answer 23

Created canopic jars which only held essential organs for the afterlife
Documents show incidence of a relationship between brain damage and leg functionality
Provides early accounts of the brain’s importance in behaviour

Question 24

Plato’s view on characterstics of the soul

Answer 24

Inner essence, spiritual and basis of being and consciousness
Form-like and from the universe, but not physical
Emotions controlled by the heart

Question 25

Plato's parts of the soul

Answer 25

Reasoning, done by the brain Sensation, done by the heart Appetite, done by the liver Neck acts as a gateway to stop raw sensations contaminating pure reasoning in the brain

Question 26

Plato's functions of the soul

Answer 26

Rational and immortal Bodily needs have to be controlled, which requires energy Considers long-term benefit of freeing the person from flesh Inhibits desires

Question 27

Aristotle's view on characteristics of the soul

Answer 27

Split into the heart and the brain

Question 28

Aristotle's view on the heart

Answer 28

Animalistic and hot and essential for life Connects to all parts of the body Affected by emotion

Question 29

Aristotle's view on the brain

Answer 29

Cools tempers of the heart Secondary in creation Not connected to all parts of the body Unaffected by emotion, rational and insensitive

Question 30

Aristotle's functions of the soul

Answer 30

Hierarchical in nature All living things have souls Souls determine the organism Vegetative/nutritive soul Sensitive and rational

Question 31

Aristotle on memory

Answer 31

Remembering is spontaneous Recall is an active search into the past

Question 32

Aristotle's laws of association

Answer 32

Contiguity, similarity, contrast, frequency

Question 33

Galen (130-200 CE) and ventricles

Answer 33

Brain ventricles are responsible for life Spirits enter ventricles and produce different behaviours for different ventricles Very influential in medieval and renaissance periods

Question 34

Augustine (354-430 CE)

Answer 34

Human discovery of truth or other scientific facts and knowledge is guided by divine illumination

Question 35

Medieval period

Answer 35

Aminism still prevalent Science is approved by authorities Reading and translations allowed for wider understanding but also controversial differences in interpretation

Question 36

Heliocentric model

Answer 36

Sun is centre of the universe Observation was based on the naked eye until development of telescope

Question 37

Ockham's razor

Answer 37

Strive for explanatory parsimony Simple theories are easier to explain

Question 38

Parismony

Answer 38

Most complex ideas explained in the simplest of manners

Question 39

Jewish influences

Answer 39

Maimonides (1135-1204) attemped to reconcile faith and reason Wrote "guide for the perplexed"

Question 40

Islamic influences

Answer 40

Avicenna (980-1037) Humans have 7 interior senses and 5 external senses and active intellect Wrote "the canon", main medical textbook in europe for 500 years

Question 41

Middle ages

Answer 41

Attempts to bridge and modify philosophical thought to fit with the church

Question 42

St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Answer 42

Sensory information is perceived inductively but doesn't reveal information about universal truths Faith and reason both lead to the ultimate reality of God