PSYC 4600 002 Lecture 5 Outline of Last Lecture I The Defecating Duck and the Newfound wonders of Machines a Automata b Clock work Universe II Determinism and Realism III Automata people as machines a Steam Enginius IV Charles Babbage a His life and work b The Crackpot c Legacy V The Antikythera Machine Outline of Current Lecture I Rene Decartes 1596 1650 a Personal History b His work i Beginnings of modern science 1 Empiricism ii Contributions of Decartes 1 Mind Body problem iii The nature of the body iv The mind body interaction v Doctrine of Ideas II Philosophical foundations of the new psychology a Auguste Comte 1798 1857 i Positivism ii Materialism b British Empiricism i Empiricism definition ii Key Figures 1 John Locke a Sensations and Reflection b Simple Ideas and complex ideas c Theory of learning association d Primary and secondary qualities These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute 2 3 4 5 George Berkeley David Hartley James Mill John Stuart Mill Current Lecture Rene Descartes 1596 1650 o Personal History Born in France Inherited money from his father Used to travel and for intellectual pursuit Studied at a Jesuit School Excelled in mathematics the humanities philosophy physics and physiology Poor health Was allowed to spend all morning in bed Where he did his best thinking Served as a gentleman volunteer in the armies of Holland Bavaria and Hungary Expert swordsman Loved to drink dance and gamble Attracted to women who squint Love affair with Helene Jans whom he had a child with Daughter died causing Descartes to become celibate and inconsolable Accepted a tutor position from the queen of Sweden Asked to teach in a cold library at 5 am became weak and ill with pneumonia Died and was buried in Sweden His manuscripts and letters went down with the ship when the boat when to dock and an Italian mathematician stole some of the letters o His work Worked on Ways to keep his hair from graying Maneuverability of wheelchairs Conditions Whipping dogs after the violin Was refined by Pavlov In the army he dreamt of the spirit of truth Led him to devote his life to mathematics and science Moved around to find solitude for work The beginnings of modern science Empiricism The pursuit of knowledge through the observation of nature and attribution of all knowledge to exterience Decartes contributed the most Wrote on math and physics inaugurated the era of modern psychology Contributions of Decartes Mind body problem What is the distiction between mental and physical qualities Previous thought the mind as the puppeteer Decartes mind and body are separate but connected Cartesian dualism Mind influences body and the body influences the mind more so than previously thought The nature of the body Physical matter governed by mechanical laws Reflex action theory The idea that an external stimulus can being about an involuntary response The mind body interaction The mind and body are separate but must connect at some point pineal body Doctrine of Ideas Mind produces two kinds of ideas Derived ideas from application of an external stimulus Innate ideas from the mind or consciousness separate from external stimuli o Review of Decartes Mind body Cartesian dualism Interaction pineal body conarium Nature of the body Mechanistic Reflex Action Theory Nature of the mind Doctrine of Ideas Innate and Derived Ideas Philosophical foundations of the new psychology positivism materialism and empiricism o Auguste Comte 1798 1857 Positivism Recognizes only natural phenomena or facts that are objectively observable Took a systematic approach to learning about human knowledge Materialism Considers the facts on the universe to be sufficiently explained in physical terms by the existence and nature of matter Personal life Comte was so influential that everyone claimed to be a positivist Never held an academic position Struggled emotionally and financially o British Empiricists Empiricism Pursuit of knowledge through observation attribute all knowledge to experience Key Figures John Locke 1632 1704 Wanted to know how the mind acquires knowledge Rejected innate ideas tabula rasa Apparently inherent nature of some ideas due to learning and habit Felt that access to good education is a must for all children Sensations and Reflection Sensations are not always reliable and derived from sensory input Reflection is the forming of ideas from sensory input All knowledge comes through the senses Simple ideas and complex ideas Simple ideas Elementary ideas arising from sensation and reflection Complex ideas The combination of simple ideas and can be reduced to smaller components Theory of association learning The notion that knowledge results from linking or associating simple ideas to form complex ideas Mind like a clock Follow specific laws Able to be broken down into smaller parts disassemble Primary and Secondary qualities Primary Characteristics that exist whether or not we perceive them size and shape Secondary Exists in our perception of the object Color and odor Does reality exist only in our perception Extra info Recipes using Hedgehog grease and carved up puppies Mutilated frog in his spare time George Berkeley 1685 1753 Mentalism All knowledge is a function of mental phenomena and dependent on the percieving experiencing person Perception is Reality The very existence of the external world depends on perception Concerned with questions like If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound Believed that God is the permanent perceiver Association of sensations Sensations are simple ideas that can be combined for form complex ideas Depth perception Associate visual impressions with sensations that occur as our eyes adjust David Hartley 1705 1757 Association by contiguity and repetition Extended association to more complex mental processes Was influenced by mechanism James Mill 1773 1836 The mind is a machine Completely passive no place for free will no such thing as creative function John Stuart Mill 1806 1873 Mental Chemistry Creative synthesis Complex ideas form from simple ideas and take on new qualities Whole greater than the sum of its parts Picked up by Wundt and Titchener