The Mind of the Buyer

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1 0 TH E M I N D O F THE BUYE R
a n d will s ; a nd h e sough t to det e rmine wh enc e
i t came an d wh ere i t w en t afte r dea th.
Aristotl e ’s kin d o f psych ology endu red fo r
many h undreds o f years, in fa ct, until th e
seve ntee nth c ent ury. Ab ou t this tim e L ocke,
Hum e an d o th e rs began to a ssert : Th ough w e
h ave b een t rying for c ent uries to disc ove r th e
n at ure, origi n a nd so urc e of th e s oul, w e h ave
no t suc ceede d. Le t us, th en, ab an don th ese
questions an d rele ga te th em to th e realm o f
things beyond o ur ken. In stea d l et us o b
se rve th e even ts th a t oc c ur duri ng th e life tim e
o f a n i ndivid ual. In oth e r words, l et us c on
side r th e min d onl y a s i t relat e s to man ’s
bodily c on duc t.
This a dvic e wa s h eede d a nd p sych ology
came t o b e d efined as th e “ scienc e o f m i nd”
o r “ consci ousness. ” Thi s defini ti on endures
a t th e p resent time, col ore d in th e p opula r
mind by relic s of Arist otle ’s mystici sm.
Sinc e th e middl e of th e ninet een th cent ury
anoth er c onc epti on of p sych ol ogy has a ri sen.
D uring th e nineteenth cen tury th e physical
scienc es— physic s a nd ch emistry— develope d
greatly ; an d the biol ogic al scienc es—b o tany,
z oology, a nd physi ology— a ro se. Unde r th e
i nflue nc e o f th e se devel opm ent s, p sych ol ogy
b egan t o ch ange i n subj ec t- mat te r a nd m eth od.

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