Page 11 - History of Psychology

Chapter

Early Influence 4

of Modern Science

and Philosophy on

Psychology

Renaissance humanism had four main themes: belief in the potential of the
individual, the insistence that religion was more personal and less
institutionalized, a strong interest in the classics, and a negative attitude towards
Aristotelian philosophy. Humanists did much to break the authority of the

organized church and Aristotle's philosophy before a scientific attitude could
develop. Although the Renaissance was a difficult time, it was a time of great
curiosity and creativity. Many discoveries and scientists gave rise to his thoughts.
Copernicus showed that the earth was not the center of the solar system. Kepler
discovered that the paths of the planets were not circular but elliptical. Galileo
concluded that the universe was valid and that the experimental results could be
summarized mathematically. He also concluded that the science of psychology
was impossible because of the subjective nature of human thought. Newton
viewed the universe as a complex, lawful, knowable machine that was created and
moved by God. In fact, Newton's science was so successful that people began to
believe that science had the potential to answer all questions. Then came Bacon
and Descartes wanted a method of inquiry that would yield unquestionable
knowledge. Descartes also decided that sensory information can be trusted
because God has created our sense organs and will not deceive us. Descartes saw
mind and body as separate but interacting; that is, the body can influence the
mind, and the mind can influence the body.

A group of British philosophers opposed Descartes' idea of innate ideas, arguing
that all ideas originate from experience. Those who claim that experience is the

basis of all knowledge are called empiricists. Hobbes insisted that all human
activity is ultimately reducible to physical and mechanistic principles; thus, he is
an empiricist. Locke was also an empiricist who believed that all ideas originate
from sensory experience but that existing ideas can be rearranged by the mind
into various configurations.

7