History of Psycology Essay

Before psychological science there was philosophy. Descartes was around during the closing of the Renaissance and in the era of revolutionary developments in science. Born in 1596 to a French police forceyer, Descartes could understand more than most. When he was in his latish 20s, he resembled more of a scientist than a philosopher since he had analyse physics, optics, geometry as well as physiology.The first to discover that lenses in nonpareils eyes are inverted by removing an oxs eye, Descartes also believed in the true and was an active rationalist, sum he believed the equity would emerge by careful use of reason and it became his modus operandi.This way to truth was also through the human capacity to reason. He created four rules he used to arrive at truth. He also was the best-known typesetters case of a dualist, giving way to accepting a clear naval di imagination between mind or soul and body. He believed that the body was homogeneous a well-oiled machine and the mind could have a direct sour on it. John Locke followed Descartes in 1632. He wanted to take epistemology, the probe of human knowledge and obtaining it, to a more sampleal based chemical group of discipline. Locke spurned the psyche of innate ideas, only faculties.Some ideas appeared so earlyish in life that they used to believe they were innate but Locke state that all of our knowledge was derived from experiences. Locke stated that the mind was like a snow-covered sheet of stem, blank but able to become something great.Experiences add to the paper by sensations and reflections. George Berkeley was another philosopher born in 1685. His work on vision was the first example of how empiricist thinking could be applied to the study of perception. in the end there is David Hume. He built his knowledge around the base insert that all of our understanding is rooted in experience, or impressions vs.ideas.Impressions are introductory sensations experienced daily such as feeli ng pain, seeing yellowed or tasting saltiness. Ideas are faint copies of impressions but are not as vivid. Hume also offered three laws of association resemblance, contiguity, and cause/effect. Resemblance meaning the look of one object can bring back memories or ideas of another item. Contiguity means intertwining two things together such as the smell of oranges and the west coast. The greatest of the laws is the law of cause/effect.If one idea causes another idea or memory, the cause reminds you of the effect i.e. burning your mess on the stove while making muffins. When seeing the scar, the memory of muffins volition reappear. Hume also suggested that to conclude that A causes B, one must know 1. When A occurs, B must occur regularly, 2. A occurs before B, and 3. B doesnt occur without beingness preceded by A. In the 19th century, psychology shifted from being philosophically based to being more scientific. Scientists and physiologists tried to show the foundation the reason s behind psychology were in fact based on the senses and the offensive system. One example is the Bell-Magendie law.Both Sir Charles Bell and Francois Magendie both were study the puzzle of the postierior and anterior roots of the spinal cord and their functions. Bell was credited with the law because his research was published earlier, though limited, and Bell did not conduct an experiment like Magendie did on puppies. They discovered that the posterior roots control sensation where there is movement still but no sensation. Magendie then cut off the anterior root in another animal and the limb was gentle and unable to move though it still had sensation.To conclude, the science of psychology has invariably been a changing domain from philosophy to the sciences. It will continue to grow and develop as the world changes and shifts. Descartes started the ball rolling by studying optics and how to arrive at the truth with his four laws. Locke showed the world that it is nurture v s. character that shapes a person. Hume gave us the three laws of association. In the 19th century psychology developed to include sciences. All of these philosophers and scientists shaped the psychology field to what it is today.