Compare and contrast the significance for psychology of Descartes and Kant
Descartes and Kant, both of them are famous philosophers and they are well known for their contributions to philosophy. At the same time, they have great influence on the development of psychology. I am going to compare their significance of psychology.
By observing some mechanical things, Descartes had an idea that human and animal work like automata. (Klein, 1970) This idea became a basic concept of Descartes’ theories of the brain and visual perception. He thought that the human mind and body were separate from each other.
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To Descartes, this was pineal body which is located roughly in the centre of the brain, near the thalamus. He thought that the soul resided in pineal body. (Klein, 1970) Descartes mentioned that the soul “is of a nature entirely independent of the body, and consequently not liable to die with body.”(Klein, 1970, p.349) Descartes posited the existence of soul. However, Kant believed that all observation is observation of phenomena. The substantiality of soul is never observed. (Klein, 1970) Kant said “……so far as I think myself, it is really impossible by that simple self-consciousness to determine the manner in which I exist, whatever as substance or as an accident. Thus, if materialism was inadequate to explain my existence, spiritualism is equally insufficient for that purpose, and the conclusion is, that, in no way whatsoever can we know anything of the nature of our soul, so far as the possibility of its separate existence is concerned.” (Klein, 1970, p.493) Kant concluded that human knew nothing about their soul and it cannot be studied by any scientific methods, while Descartes posited the existence of soul and know the real location where the soul resided.
Descartes stated some theory of perception and let people know how things can be perceived. This is a profound impact on psychology. Descartes was a rationalist. One of the tenets of Rationalism stated that senses deceive and do not trust them. (Klein, 1970)
One may first look at the argument contained within Descartes’ book Meditations on First Philosophy. In the sixth meditation Descartes states “On the one hand I have a clear and distinct idea of myself, in so far as I am simply a thinking, non-extended thing and on the other hand I have a distinct idea of body, in so far as this is simply an extended, non-thinking thing. And accordingly, it is certain that I am really distinct from my body, and can
Like many people today, Descartes believed that the mind and soul were separate. He believed that the mind’s purpose was only for “thinking” and “non-extended” things. While, the body is an extension; non-thinking. Descartes thought that the mind and body were different substances, thus they
Descartes concludes from his first meditation that he is a thinking thing, and as long as he thinks, he exists. In the second meditation, Descartes attempts to define what the “thinking thing” that he concluded himself to be in the first meditation actually was. Descartes’ determines that he gains knowledge of the world, that is, knowledge that is separate from the mind, through the senses; and that the senses can deceive. This he outlines within the first meditation, and mentions on the second meditation. Furthermore, in the second meditation, Descartes refuses to define himself as a rational animal, instead going back and relying on labeling him mind as a thinking thing. In the fifth and sixth paragraphs of the second meditation, Descartes distinguishes the body from the soul. Descartes indicates that there is the presence of the body, and it seems to be in the physical world, but he also notes that his mind does not seem to exist in the same manner. Descartes also claims that the ability to perceive is a power of the soul, but inoperable without the body. Descartes then explores another object with physical substance, which is a piece of wax. The piece of wax is undeniably physical; it takes up space within the material world. The body falls into the category, just as any other physical object in the material world. The main point of Descartes’ second meditation is that any given person can know more about their mind than of the world surrounding them.
René Descartes believed that the mind and body are separate; that the senses could not always be trusted, but that because we as humans are able to think about our existence, we possess some sort of entity separate than our fleshly body. I believe this separate entity to be a soul”an immaterial and
Compare and contrast Wilhelm Wundt’s (1832-1920) and Edward Titchener’s (1867-1927) systems of Psychology.History of Psychology
all of the time. Meaning that events and states in our mind can cause physical events in
In Meditation six: Concerning the Existence of Material Things, and the Real Distinction between Mind and Body, Rene Descartes wrote of his distinctions between the mind and the body, first by reviewing all things that he believed to be true, then assessing the causes and later calling them into doubt, and then finally by considering what he must now believe. By analyzing Descartes’ writing, this paper will explicate Descartes’ view on bodies and animals, and if animals have minds. Before explicating the answer to those questions, Descartes’ distinctions between the mind and the body should first be summarized and explained.
In his Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes states “I have a clear and distinct idea of myself, in as far as I am only a thinking and unextended thing, and as, on the other hand, I possess a distinct idea of body, in as far as it is only an extended and unthinking thing”. [1] The concept that the mind is an intangible, thinking entity while the body is a tangible entity not capable of thought is known as Cartesian Dualism. The purpose of this essay is to examine how Descartes tries to prove that the mind or soul is, in its essential nature, entirely distinct from the
Descartes believes that since the mind and the body are two different things, then they can exist separately. This is the theory of dualism.
The next task that Descartes must consider is to define what he is, and in doing so be careful not to make assumptions. He cannot consider himself to be an animal, since that would require a definition of what an animal is. Such an examination is beyond the discussion. (25) Instead of making random guesses, Descartes begins to think about what came to mind when he considered what he was. (25, 26) The first thought that occurs to him is that he has a body - something that by definition has a determinable shape, defined location and that can occupy space. However, if an all-powerful deceiver is at work, then that which
Descartes has a very distinct thought when thinking about the mind, and how it relates to the body, or more specifically then brain. He seems to want to explain that the mind in itself is independent from the body. A body is merely a physical entity that could be proven to be true scientifically and also can be proven through the senses. Such things are not possible with the meta-physical mind because it is independent of the body. Building on his previous premises, Descartes finally proves whether material things exist or not and determines whether his mind and body are separate from each other or not. In Meditation Six, Descartes lays the foundation for dualism which has become one of the most important arguments in philosophy.
History and Systems of Psychology is a course requirement offered to Psychology majors and minors. This course is used to provide majors and minors with the foundation and the evolution of the field of psychology. Within this class, many scholars of discussed. Two scholars that stood out to me in this course would be John Watson and Max Wertheimer. These two particular scholars are responsible for two of the most influential and famous schools of thought, behaviorism and Gestalt psychology. These two schools of thought are responsible for changing the field of psychology and introducing the field to new theories and ways of thinking. Although the two schools of thought are similar in being influential but they are different in many ways. The two schools of thought are even said to be contradictory of one another and one is even said to be the cause of the fading out of the other.
The first premise of the proof Descartes gives is that humans are thinking things, “I am a thing that thinks…that doubts, affirms, denies, that knows a few things, that wills, that desires, that also imagines and perceives” (58). As thinking things,
Descartes proposed to rebuild science on a solid foundation by doubting everything that could be doubted and then proving some things on the basis of what cannot be doubted. Descartes breaks down the notion that all knowledge comes from the senses and that mental state must in some way resemble what they are about. He develops an entirely new conception of mind, matter, ideas, and a great deal else besides. Descartes focused on what he considered to be the very foundation: the idea that sense perception conveys accurate information. I will be discussing the arguments Descartes developed to illustrate this point.
knowledge of it.[11] The things or facts of world A have properties and may interact, but those properties and interactions are by definition unobservable. Because they cannot be observed and are given to us only in thought, the facts in A were called by Kant noumena, or things-in- themselves (Ding an sich). The view that there exists such an unobservable yet real world is called metaphysical realism.[11] The belief that no such world exists, or is at least meaningless because unobservable, is called anti-realism.[11] The present work assumes the existence a real, external world. The problem of establishing its existence and its properties is known as the problem of the external world.[12]