16
M
any of the issues that
are examined in modern
psychology had been
the subject of philosophical debate
long before the development of
science as we know it today. The
very earliest philosophers of ancient
Greece sought answers to questions
about the world around us, and the
way we think and behave. Since
then we have wrestled with ideas
of consciousness and self, mind and
body, knowledge and perception,
how to structure society, and how
to live a “good life.”
The various branches of science
evolved from philosophy, gaining
momentum from the 16th century
onward, until finally exploding
into a “scientific revolution,” which
ushered in the Age of Reason in the
18th century. While these advances
in scientific knowledge answered
many of the questions about the
world we live in, they were still
not capable of explaining the
workings of our minds. Science and
technology did, however, provide
models from which we could start
asking the right questions, and
begin to test theories through the
collection of relevant data.Separating mind and body
One of the key figures in the
scientific revolution of the 17th
century, the philosopher and
mathematician René Descartes,
outlined a distinction between mind
and body that was to prove critical
to the development of psychology.
He claimed that all human beings
have a dualistic existence—with
a separate machinelike body and
a nonmaterial, thinking mind, or
soul. Later psychological thinkers,among them Johann Friedrich
Herbart, were to extend the
machine analogy to include
the brain as well, describing
the processes of the mind as the
working of the brain-machine.
The degree to which mind and
body are separate became a topic
for debate. Scientists wondered
how much the mind is formed by
physical factors, and how much is
shaped by our environment. The
“nature versus nurture” debate,
fueled by British naturalist
Charles Darwin’s evolutionary
theory and taken up by Francis
Galton, brought subjects such
as free will, personality,
development, and learning to the
fore. These areas had not yet been
fully described by philosophical
inquiry, and were now ripe
for scientific study.INTRODUCTION
1869
Francis Galton’s
research suggests
that nurture is
more important
than nature, in
Hereditary Genius.1819
Abbé Faria
investigates hypnosis
in his book On the
Cause of Lucid Sleep.1859
Charles Darwin
publishes On the
Origin of the Species,
proposing that all our
traits are inherited.1649
René Descartes
publishes The
Passions of the Soul,
claiming that the
body and soul are
separate.1816
Johann Friedrich Herbart
describes a dynamic mind
with a conscious and an
unconscious in A Text-book
in Psychology.1849
Søren Kierkegaard’s book
The Sickness Unto Death
marks the beginning of
existentialism.1861
Neurosurgeon Pierre
Paul Broca discovers
that the left and right
hemispheres of the brain
have separate functions.1874
Carl Wernicke
provides evidence
that damage to a
specific area of the
brain causes the loss
of specific skills.