chapter 2

The Ancient World

Early humans attempted to explain natural events by projecting human attributes onto nature.Animism and Anthropomorphism Animism: Giving life to nature and natural phenomena Anthropomorphism: Attributing human qualities and abilities to nonhuman animals and natural phenomena No distinction made between what is animate/inanimate or natural/unatural example, the sky or earth could become angry or could be tanquil, just as a person could. thus looking at all of nature as though it were alive is called animism, and the projection of human attributes onto nature is called anthropomorphism

Spirits were assumed to dwell in everythingused to explain nature and human actionsMagic Methods developed to influence the spirits to change the situation Came in form of words, actions, or ceremonies The word spirit is derived from the latin word for "breath." Breath (later spirit, soul, psyche, or ghost) is what gives things life and when it leaves a thing, death results.

Homo Psychologicus Nicholas Humphrey suggested that instead of being called Homo sapiens, we could more accurately be named Homo Psychologicus. It is part of human nature to try to understand other people Example: children developing a Theory of mind.

Early Greek ReligionOlympian religion Olympian gods in the Homeric poems (preferred by the Greek nobility) Olympian gods typically uninterested in the human condition. Ideal life involved the puruit of glory through noble deeds. Olympian gods personified orderliness, rationality, valued intelligence Similar to the beliefs of the Greek nobility

Dionysiac and Orpheus The major alternative to the Olympian religion Based initially on legend of Dionysus and OrpheusTransmigration of the soul was the major feature Soul was locked in a physical body (a prison) Soul continued a "circle of births" inhabiting plants, animals, and human bodies until redeemed Various rites were practiced to free the should from the body and liberate from transmigration so as to return to the presence of the gods from whence it came. The idea of soul seeking to escape earthly existence and enter into a heavenly state gained popularity and became part of Judeo-christian beliefs.

The First Philosophers Philosophy (love of knowledge and wisdom) Began with natural explanation (logos) replacing supernatural explanation (mythos).Cosmology The explanation of origin, structure, and processes governing the universe (cosmos). The universe was orderly and thus, in principle explainable.

The First Philosophers PhilosophersThales First philosopher Emphasized natural explanations while minimizing supernatural ones. The universe consists of natural substances and is governed by natural principles. Universe is a knowable and understandable Thales searched for the one single substance from which all others were derived the physis or primary element. The physis was water He ushered in the critical tradition the criticism and questioning of others' teaching and views. Anaximander Physis was a substance that had the capability of becoming anything Called the "boundless" or the "indefinite." Heraclitus Nature is in a constant state of flux or change. Physis is fire because it transforms all things into something else. World is always "becoming" - never "is" All things exist between polar opposites - must have opposites Epistemological question How can one know something if it is always changing? The veracity of the senses began to be questioned. Rationalists believe that there are knowable things in the universe, while empiricists believe that everything is constantly changing and thus incapable of being known Parmenides All things are constant; change is an illusion One reality - finite, uniform, motionaless, and fixed Knowledge comes only through reason (rationalism) Sensory experience is not real, not to be trusted. Zeno Disciple of Parmenides Used logical arguments (paradoxes) to show that motion was an illusion to support Parmenides. Pythagoras First to use the term philosopher and call himself a philosopher Explanation of the universe found in numbers and numerical relationships Applied mathematical principles to human experience Numbers and numerical relationships were real and influenced the empirical world Illness was thought to result from a disruption of the body's equilibrium Nothing is perfect in the empirical world; perfection is in abstract mathematical world and known only by reason The pythagoreans proposed a dualistic universe One part abstract, permanent, and knowable (similar to parmenides) One part empirical, changing, and known through the senses, but senses cannot provide knowledge (similar to heraclitus) The pythagoreans lived a strict, disciplined life including a crusade against vice, lawlessness, and bodily excess. They believed that experiences in the flesh (senses) were inferior to experiences in the mind Affected plato's views and impacted early Christian thought. Empedocles Not just one physis but four elements that make up the world - earth, fire ,air, and water Humans also made these elements Postulated two causal powers in the universe: love and strife Causal powers and the elements operate together to produce unending cosmic cycle of recurring phases. He proposed a theory of evolution more complex than Anaximander's Proposed an early theory of perception Each of the four elements are found in the blood Objects in the world throw off tiny copies of themselves called "emanations" or eidola (plural of eidolon), which enter the blood through pores in the body, the eidola combine with elements like themselves. The fusion of external and internal elements results in perception, which take place in the heart. Anaxagoras Proposed an infinite number of elements called "seeds" from which all things were created Seeds do not exits in isolation every element contains all other elements. What is present (the characteristics of something) is determined by the proportion of the elements present. One exception - the mind is pure, contains no other elements Mind is part of all living things, but not a part of nonliving things Anaxagoras was an early vitalist. Democritus First completely naturalistic description of the universe All things were made of tiny particles called atoms Characteristics of things are determined by shape, size, number, location, , Location, and arrangement of atoms. All things and events, animate, inanimate, and cognitive can be reduced to atoms and atomic activity. Atom's behavior is lawful (determinism) All things explained by atomic activity (elementism) Events and phenomena explained in terms of another, more elemental level (reductionism). Described sensation and perception in terms of atoms. emanating from the surface of objects and entering the body through the sensory systems and then transmitted to the brain.

Early Greek Medicine Temple medicine, healing rituals practiced by priests (kept secret and guarded), accompanied by much ritual and ceremony by patients. "Doctors" Alcmaeon naturalized medicine Hippocrates "Father of Medicine"Galen Hypothesized personalityAlcmaeon Alcmaeon proposed a balance of physical qualities needed for health The physician's job was to help the patient region equilibrium The idea of balance and harmony for health has continued to present time. Through research, concluded that sensation, perception, memory, thinking, and understanding occurred in the brain based on own dissection work. Hippocrates Hippocrates proposed that all disorders (mental and physical) are caused by natural factors such as inherited susceptibility and organic injury, and by imbalances of bodily fluids. Humans are made of four humors, which need to stay in balance The body has the ability to heal itself - physician's job was to facilitate through natural healing - treat the whole patient, not just the disease The Hippocratic oath, written by the pythagoreans? Galen Personality Theory created by associating the four humors of Hippocrates with four temperaments Sanguine (blood) Hopeful and cheerful Melancholic (black bile) Sad and depressive Chaotic (yellow bile) Angry and irascible Phlegmatic (phlegm) Slow and apathetic

Relativity of Truth The sophists Professional teachers of rhetoric and logic, truth is relative - no single truth existsSophists Protogoras Gorgias Xenophanes Protogoras (summary of position) Truth depends on the perceiver Perception varies from person to person because each perceiver has _____different experiences. Truth is partially determined by culture To understand why a person believes as a person does, one must understand the person. Agnostic towards the Greek gods Philosophy of relativity of truth is still present today in post modernism. Gorgias Gorgias took a more extreme position than Protogoras - all things are equally false There is not objective basis of truth - nihilism - one can only be aware of one's own experiences and mental states solipsism. He came to three conclusions: Nothing exists If i did exist, it could not be comprehended if existence exists, it is inapprehensible to humans if it could be comprehended, it could not be If existence is apprehensible, it certainly cannot be communicated or in interpreted to one's neighbors Spoken words had power but they were essentially deceitful. Sophists (xenophanes) Attacked veracity of religion before the Sophists Xenophanes stated that religion is a human invention. His evidence was: Olympian gods act suspiciously like humans Gods of different peoples look like the people themselves Humans create religion - moral codes come from man He was not an atheist; he postulated a god that was unlike any other described during that time. Socrates Socrates agreed with sophists that personal experience is important, but disagreed that no truth exists beyond personal opinion. Employed method of inductive definition Examine instances of a concept Ask the question - what is it that all instances have in common? Find the essence of the instances of the concept. Seek to find general concepts by examining isolated instances. The essence was a universally accepted definiton of a concept. Understanding essence constituted knowledge and goal of life was to gain knowledge. Socrates was sentenced to death at the age of 70 years for corrupting the youth of Athens Plato Theory of forms Everything in the empirical world is an inferior manifestation of the pure form, which exists in the abstract. Experience through our senses comes from interaction of the pure form and matter of the world Result is an experience less than perfect. True knowledge can be attained only through reason; rational thought regarding the forms. The analogy of the divided line Description of Plato's view of acquisition of true knowledge. The analogy divides the world and our states of mind into points along a divided line. People attempting to gain knowledge through sensory experience are ____doomed to ignorance or, at best, opinion. Impacting is lowest form of understanding Direct experience with objects is lightly better, but still just beliefs or opinions. Contemplation of mathematical relationships is better than the other two. Highest form of thinking involves embracing the forms. True knowledge and intelligence comes only from understanding the abstract ___forms Allegory of the cave : demonstrates how difficult it is to deliver humans from ignorance. The reminiscence theory of knowledge How do we know the forms if they cannot be known through sensory experiences? Prior to coming into the body, the soul dwelt in pure, complete knowledge. All knowledge is innate and can be attained only through introspection - thus, all true knowledge comes only from reminiscence, from remembering the experiences the soul had prior to entering the body. Therefore, Plato was a rationalist - stressed mental operations to gain knowledge already in the soul. The nature of the soul The sould is comprised of three parts (tripartite)Rational component Immortal, existed with forms. Courageous (emotional or spirited) component Mortal emotions such as fear, rage, and love Appetite component Mortal needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior that must be satisfied. To obtain knowledge, one must suppress bodily needs and concentrate on rational pursuits. Job of rational component is to postpone and inhibit immediate gratification when in the best long-term benefit of the person. In Republic, Plato described a utopian society with three types of people performing specific functions; Appetitive individuals - workers and slaves. Courageous individuals - soldiers. rational individuals - philosopher-kings. Plato felt that all was predetermined A complete nativist, people are destined to be slave, soldier, or philosopher-king. Sleep and dreams While awake some individuals are better able to rationally control there appetites than are others during sleep, however, it's another matter. Does not specifically mention dreams, but this is a precursor to some of what will come much later (i.e. Freud) Plato's legacy Because of his disdain for empirical observation and sensory experience as means of gaining knowledge, he actually inhibited progress in science. Dualism in humans Aristotle Aristotle and Plato contrasted PlatoEssences (truths) in the forms that exist independent of nature, known only by using introspection (rationalism) Aristotle Essences could be known only by studying nature through individual observation of phenomena (empiricism). Aristotle embraced both rationalism and empiricism.Mind must be employed to gain knowledge (rationalism), object of the rational thought was information from sensory experience (empiricism) Aristotle's Lyceum Categorized and catalogued a large number of observations made of physical and biological phenomena. Contrasting views of Plato and Aristotle set stage for epistemological arguments throughout history. Aristotle's causation, teleology, and entelechy Aristotle's believed that to understand any object or phenomenon, one must know four aspects of it Everything in nature follows from these causes: 1. Material cause Matter of which it is made2. Formal cause Form or pattern of the object - what is it?3. Efficient cause Force that transforms the matter - who made it?4. Final causePurpose - why it exists. Everything has a purpose Teleology, meaning that everything has a function (entelechy) built into it. Entelechy keeps an object moving and developing in its prescribed direction to full potential Scala naturae is the idea that nature is arranged in a hierarchy ranging from neutral matter to the unmoved mover, which is the cause of everything in nature The closer to the unmoved mover is something is, the more perfect it is. Hierarchy of souls: a soul is what gives life Vegetative (nutritive) soul Provides growth, assimilation of food, and reproduction Possessed by plants Sensitive soul Functions of vegetative soul plus the ability to sense and respond to the ___environment, experience pleasure and pain, and use memory. Possessed by animals Rational soul Functions of vegetative and sensitive souls plus ability of thinking and rational __thought. Possessed by humans. Sensation From the five senses Perception was explained by motion of objects that stimulate a particular sensory system. We can trust our senses to yield an accurate representation of the real world environment. Common sense, passive and active reason. Sensory information is only first step in gaining knowledge - necessary but not sufficient element to obtaining knowledge. Information from multiple sensory systems must be combined for effective interactions with the environment Common sense Coordinates and synthesizes informatoin from all of the senses for more ____meaningful and effective experience. Passive reason Used synthesized experience to function in everyday life Active reason Uses synthesized experience to abstract principles and essences Highest form of thinking Active reason provides humans with there entelechy Purpose is to engage in active reason Source of greatest pleasure Memory and recall Remembering Spontaneous recollection of a previous experience Recall An actual mental search for a previous experience Practice of recall affected by laws of association Law of contiguity Associate things that occurred close in time and in time and/or in same ___situation Law of similarity Similar things are associated Law of contrast Opposite things are associated Law of frequency More often events occur together - stronger the association Associationism Belief that one or more laws of association can be used to explain the origins of ideas, memory, or how complex ideas are formed from simple ones. Memory and recall (continued)Laws of association are basis for most theories of learning and association. Imagination and dreaming Imagination is lingering effects of sensory experience.Dreaming is images from past experiences which are stimulated by events inside and outside the body.Motivation and emotion Happiness is doing what is natural Fulfills one's purpose Purpose for humans is to think rationally Humans, being biological organisms, are motivated by appetites. However, humans can use rational powers to inhibit appetites. Conflicts arise between immediate satisfaction and biological drives and more remote rational goals. Like most Greeks, Aristotle held self-control and moderation as a high ideal. The best life was one lived in accordance to the golden mean. Emotions and selective perception Emotions function to amplify any eisting tendency (behavior). Emotions also influence a person's perception to be more selective. The Importance of Early Greek Philosophy In Popper's view, science began when humans began to question the prevailing stories about themselves and the world. The Greek cosmologists broke loose from the accepted traditions and speculated; they also engaged in critical discussion. After Aristotle's death, philosophers either relied on teachings of pas authorities, particularly Aristotle, or turned attention from descriptions of the universe to models of human conduct. The critical, questioning tradition of the Greeks was not present until revived in the Renaissance.