task 3 Flashcards

Question

the two cultures of enlightenment

Answer 1

- first half of 20th century - -> division between science & religion increased - Charles Snow (1956): > regretted this separation and saw it as a LOSS FOR SOCIETY > both cultures had a lot to learn from each other > appealed for more communication by INCLUDING BOTH SIDES IN SCHOOL CURRICULUM

Answer 2

1. individualisation in western societies 2. philosophical studies of the mind 3. epistemology 4. rational & empirical psychology

Answer 3

- trend towards looser social relations & greater focus by individuals on themselves than on groups they belong to - people derive self-image & self-esteem from OWN QUALITIES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS - -> rather than from position of family in society - started around end of middle ages and is still going - four factors that contributed to individualisation: 1. INCREASED COMPLEXITY IN SOCIETY > increased urbanisation & industrialisation put people into more complex and competitive social networks > as number of occupations & trades grew, people felt greater need to position themselves relative to others 2. INCREASED CONTROL BY THE STATE > people were told that society gathered & stored more and more information about individuals 3. INDIVIDUALS PROMOTED BY CHRISTIANITY > religion put emphasis on solitary individual --> because each person's private state of faith & relation to god is seen as essence of devotion 4. INCREASED AVAILABILITY OF MIRRORS, BOOKS, LETTERS > mirrors -> people were more aware of themselves and impressions they made on others > before, adventures were center of stories -> then, characters took that role > letter writing became more common -> rise to "familiar letters" in which people explore, express, share intimate experiences

Answer 4

- in 17th century: great revival of philosophical thinking - -> focused on EPISTEMOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY rather than on Plato & Aristotle - RATIONALISM vs. EMPIRICISM

Answer 5

- Berkeley & Hume - -> IDEALISM vs. realism - Kant - -> RECONCILIATION OF RATIONALISM & EMPIRICISM - SCOTTISH COMMON SENSE: > Berkeley and Hume's idealism was put aside > REID believed that separation of mind & reality was out of control --> wanted philosophy to go back to Aristotelian view of perception --> saw perception as direct interaction between perceiver & real object -> raw material of experience is object themselves >> "you see and therefore there must be" CRITICS: - no evidence/proof

Answer 6

WOLFF - important moment in rise of psychology: - -> publication of two books about the distinction between rational & empirical psychology - -> Wolff took ideas from Aristotle (Axioms), Bacon, Newton > RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY: - starts from self-evident truths (axioms) & on the basis of deductive reasoning - -> lead to demonstration of new knowledge - approach guaranteed true conclusions about human soul & allowed for more involvement than just simple observations - Wolff thought pure reasoning entailed risk of error > psychology needed interaction between reasoning & observation > EMPIRICAL PSYCHOLOGY: - built on introspection - -> human mind could perceive its own operations and use this information to build science of psychology >> Wolff suggested usage of mathematical demonstration: PSYCHOMETRIA (Newton)

Answer 7

KANT: - argued that psychology could not be proper natural science for these reasons: 1. outcome of introspection could not be formulated in mathematical laws 2. inner observations could not be separated & recombined at will 3. act of introspection changed state of observed mind COMTE - denied the scientific status of psychology - proponent of positivism - psychology was excluded from hierarchy of sciences because of problems with introspective method - -> argued that introspection as scientific method was flawed -> impossible for one person to reason & observe oneself reason - -> claimed thath human mind could be studied scientifically on physiology & on products of the human mind COMTE'S HIERARCHY of six sciences: Mathematics > Astronomy > Physics > Chemistry > Biology > Sociology

Answer 8

- 17th century - philosophy = spirit of mechanism CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE - scholars attempted to define & describe every phenomenon by assigning it numerical values - -> TIME > DETERMINISM: - doctrine that acts are determined by past events - -> understanding of order & regularity with which its part function > predict changes that will occur in operation of clock (universe) > REDUCTIONISM: - doctrine that explains phenomena on one level in terms of phenomena on another level - -> physical universe could be understood by analysing or reducing it to its simplest parts (molecules/atoms)

Answer 9

- doctrine that natural processes are mechanically determined - -> capable of explanation by the law of physics & chemistry NEWTON: - suggested that movement was communicated by forces that acted to attract & repel atoms - universe consists of atoms in motion > every physical effect follow from a direct cause - -> must be subject to laws of measurement & should be predictable

Answer 10

- study of society - -> social relationships - -> social interactions - -> culture in everyday life

Answer 11

- 1705-1757 - agreed with Locke that all ideas are derived from experiences conveyed through senses > FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF ASSOCIATION: - ideas/sensations that occur together become associated - -> occurrence of one is connected with that of the other - REPETITION: - -> the more frequently two ideas occur together, the more readily the will be associated - men & machine: - -> suggested that our nerves were solid structures & vibrations of nerves transmitted impulses from one part of body to another

Answer 12

DERIVED: - produced by direct implication of external stimulus >> product of experiences of senses INNATE: - arise from mind/consciousness - independently of sensory experiences/external stimuli >> independent of sensory experiences