Rene Descartes: Why Psychology Cannot be a Science Like Physics
The philosophies and concepts presented in Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy illustrate several reasons why psychology cannot be a science like physics. These concepts include that truths are based on clear and distinct ideas, that the mind is not an object but a separate entity, that human psychology is a product of a reflex action between the mind and the body, and that truth can only be obtained by judging ideas based on observing experiments. Each of these concepts will now be looked at in turn, relating it to psychology as a science.
Meditations on First Philosophy is Descartes' attempt to question everything around him and determine what can really be accepted as truth and what cannot. The one sure thing this is based on is that Descartes exists. The reasoning is that if he did not exist, he would not be thinking about whether he exists and so, he must exist. This is captured by the phrase "cognito ergo sum" - I think, therefore I am. Based on this, Descartes accepts this truth and attempts to follow it to see what else he can know for certain. Descartes then reflects on the truths and finds one characteristic that links them all, they are all clear and distinct. Descartes' conclusion is that any truth made up of clear and distinct ideas can be known for certain.
This leads to the first reason that Descartes...
Descartes - Passions Descartes separated the functions of the mind from the functions of the "machine of the body," stating that the body operates more like the motions of a watch, which are produced merely by the inner springs and wheels (Article 16). He felt that there was nothing remaining within ourselves that could be attributed to the soul except for our thoughts, and these he felt could be further categorized
This is indeed an absolutely profound concept in that it can't help but support the idea of the autonomous individual, existing in connection to thought. The truth of these emotions, be them good or bad, speak to the authenticity of the self. There's a notion of realness -- of the self that is a facet of the genuine, as emotions and desires are founded upon the genuine. This notion
Important Theorists and their Contributions: Broca contributed greatly to the initial recognition of the importance of specific brain regions to particular aspects of human psychology and behavior in the middle of the 19th century. Shortly thereafter, William James published one of the first formal academic explanation of biopsychology just before the turn of the 20th century, titled the Principles of Psychology (Dennet, 1991; Pinker, 2002). James acknowledged that personal experience and
DESCARTES' BELIEVE IN GOD Descartes Believe in God Descartes' Believe in God Science attempts to prove how God did or does things. The assessment is heavily disputed by archaic religious doctrines. The traditional conflict between science and religion is entirely based on the dominion and not what is right or wrong. Rene Descartes' belief in God is not based on atheistic principles, but on blasphemy as seen from the way he investigates God's
The philosopher differed radically from Descartes in the fact that he believed that every physical manifestation to be found (and evidenced of a body or a sensory perception of something) stemmed from an idea. Spinoza contended that thoughts begot the physical process of motion, creation, or any other physical application, and that the intellect which produced such thoughts and the physical manifestations of them should therefore not be considered
" With that statement, Descartes proves his five-step theory that proves he exists because he is, in his words, "a thinking thing." Third Meditation have explained at sufficient length the principal argument of which I make use in order to prove the existence of God," Descartes claims. He claims that the idea of God is placed in us by God and that, if he (Descartes) exists there must have been a
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