Philosophical Influences on Psychology, Part IThe Glory of FranceWhat Does This Have to Do With AnythingThe Spirit of MechanismLike ClockworkDeterminismReductionismWait, if we can think of the universe as a machine, can we think of people as machines too?For example, calculators!So What?The Beginnings of Modern ScienceRene DescartesRENE DescartesSlide 14Kind of a RomanticPrecious CargoDescartes’ Ideas: Mechanism and the Mind-Body ProblemDualismThe Nature of the BodyThe Nature of the MindSlide 21Major Cartesian ContributionsDiscussion QuestionsSlide 24Slide 25Slide 26Slide 27Slide 28WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14TH 2015PHILOSOPHICAL INFLUENCES ON PSYCHOLOGY, PART ITHE GLORY OF FRANCE•In 1739, Jacques de Vaucanson charged admission for people to view a mechanical duck–It quacked, ate, stretched, and…pooped–When the famous philosopher Voltaire saw it, he said, “Without the shitting duck, there would be nothing to remind us of the glory of France” (quoted in Wood, 2002, p. 27)–Even now, this is considered a marvelous feat of the 18th century (think Zeitgeist)–http://vimeo.com/14904318WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING•The widespread interest in this duck symbolized a new fascination with machinery for use across all kinds of disciplines•The principles that contributed to building new machines and mechanical figures (clocks in particular) all influenced the direction of psychology•This will all be connected later, I’m getting there!THE SPIRIT OF MECHANISM•Mechanism: the doctrine that natural processes are mechanically determined and capable of explanation by the laws of physics and chemistry•The universe was considered one big machine and all of the processes therein could be described by physics (then called “natural philosophy”) and chemistry•Galileo and Isaac Newton concluded that if the universe consists of atoms in motion, then every physical effect follows from a direct cause•Because effects are measurable, it should be predictable and consistent, much like a clockLIKE CLOCKWORK•Observation and experimentation were the foundations of scientific methodology! •Measurement too became important, so that the time between experimentation and observation could be consistently described •The measurement of time and the mechanism of clocks were extremely important parts of the Zeitgeist of the time and for scientists, they represented the perfect model for the physical universe–Punctuality became important for the first time tooDETERMINISM•Determinism: the doctrine that every act is determined or caused by past events•Thus, a clock will continue to tick because the clockmaker was created by someone and because of the regularity of the clock in the pastREDUCTIONISM•Reductionism: the explanation of complex phenomena using the simpler levels therein•You can understand anything, including a clock, by taking it apart and reducing it to its basic components•A reductionist would view a human as a bundle of bones, arteries, veins, organs, etc.WAIT, IF WE CAN THINK OF THE UNIVERSE AS A MACHINE, CAN WE THINK OF PEOPLE AS MACHINES TOO?•This was why the duck was so crazy•Turning living things into machines was called automata•Descartes was on board with this idea•Clocks, automata, and the scientists who were influenced by them inspired the idea that human functioning and behavior were governed by mechanical laws and that the experimental and quantitative methods of the physical universe could be applied therein•Mechanical ideas of humanity still remain today, and we use several of them frequentlyFOR EXAMPLE, CALCULATORS!•Charles Babbage invented an automata called “the difference engine” in early 1800s•This was the first time a physical act could convert to a mental result (crazy!)•Ada, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852) wrote extensively about Babbage’s machines and completely nailed the philosophy of artificial intelligence–The machines could create nothing original; there had to be a programmer•In 1980, the U.S. Dept of Defense named the programming language for its military computer control system “Ada”•Babbage’s machine has been replicated and functions perfectlySO WHAT?•This was the first successful attempt to duplicate human cognitive processes through artificial intelligenceTHE BEGINNINGS OF MODERN SCIENCE•Up until around this time, anything that could be considered psychological science was taken from philosophy, religion, and politics•All of these automata and integration of physics and chemistry took psychology closer to empiricism•Empiricism: the pursuit of knowledge through observation and experimentation, not just traditional knowledge passed down from generationsRENE DESCARTES•Not just a graph enthusiast!•Thanks to Descartes, early psychological thought continued to break free of rigid beliefs from the past and move forward on the track of empiricismRENE DESCARTES•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kIatZjJs5IRENE DESCARTES•Born in 1596 to a wealthy French family•Studied math, humanities, philosophy, physics, and physiology•He was a pretty sickly guy and thus permitted to sleep till noon every day•He did this for most of his life and accomplished much “creative thinking” this wayKIND OF A ROMANTIC•Wrote of association in terms of romance – “the squinter”•Dedicated his life to science after ending his only substantial relationship and the death of his young daughter•Allegedly had a crazy dream that inspired him to devote his life to questioning everything and applying mathematical principles to all areas of life for the sake of certainty and truth•Died of pneumonia while teaching philosophy to the Queen of SwedenPRECIOUS CARGO•After his death, Descartes’ notebooks and manuscripts were shipped to Paris, but the boat sank!•After 3 days underwater and 17 years of restoration, some of these were finally published•28 of these letters have yet to be recovered after a theft in the mid 19th-century•Here we see our data collection problem!DESCARTES’ IDEAS: MECHANISM AND THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM•The mind-body problem: are the mind and body distinct from each other? •Dualism: the mind and body are distinct from each other–If so, what is their relationship? How do they interact? Is one necessary to achieve the other?•Before Descartes, the widely accepted theory was that the mind influenced the body, but that the body did not influence the
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