Major Approaches in the History of Psychology - Coursework Example

Personalistic and Naturalistic Approach in the History of Psychology al Affiliation) Personalistic and Naturalistic Approach in the History of Psychology The Personalist position in scientific history centers on the achievements and contributions of specific men and women in history. According to this position, progress and change are attributed to the determination and charisma of specific people who defined the course in which history occurred. Such great names can easily be stated by anyone due to the vast acknowledgement of their achievements by several generations. For example, Galileo Galilei, Albert Einstein and Isaac newton just to mention a few. Hence, the personalist position postulates that a person in history shapes the time, for example Einstein period which shaped physics. Ideally, the personalist position implies that events would never have come to be without the occurrence of key proponents (Boring, 1950). There are two forms of the personalist views: the great man as an emissary and the great man as an individual. According the great man as an emissary, humans act as envoys from the supernatural with instructions to perform specific tasks, for example prophets in the Bible scriptures. According to the great man as an individual, there is a concept of the self-made man which is acquired through influence, power and self-initiative (Boring, 1950). These attributes culminated from the environment in which an individual was raised and where they were born. Biographies are used to exemplify the historical achievements of individuals. The naturalistic position on the other hand states that the times and environment make the person. It further suggests that unless other factors are open to the idea then the ideas of the proponent may be shunned. For example, had Charles Darwin died young, someone else would have developed his ideas since the intellectual climate at his time was ready to accept concepts on evolution. This position requires determinants which can be either psychological or physical. The physical form emphasizes the influences of the physical environment in defining human behavior and societal development (Boring, 1950). For example climatic and geographical determinants determine the development of societies through history. The psychological form on the other hand relies on the lawfulness of human conduct and ideas. This implies that if all determinants are known, it is possible to postulate the development and deeds of a society by accessing the behavior of individuals that constitute the society. Consequently, history is the legally determined process of a society over a period of time and free will is regarded as a relic of the psychological process or a fantasy experience associated with our legal reactions (Jones, 2011). Concurrent discoveries also influence the naturalistic position of scientific study as in the case of discoveries made by scientists far apart who are non-conversant with the others work. This implies that different environments can come up with the same discovery concurrently without one major influence into it. Zeitgeist relates to the personalist position in the sense that the errors of misconception are not obvious due to shared beliefs and suppositions of particular period in history. For instance, there might be an error in the scientific developments of a particular individual but they are overshadowed by the zeitgeist. It also cleared the path in the course of history for new scientific ideas such as the works of Charles Darwin. During his time, knowledge on evolution was acceptable in order to challenge Christian doctrines in explaining the origin of mankind. This was the period of enlightenment and emancipation from church doctrines. Zeitgeist furthermore can stimulate creative ideas and solutions to problems such as in a case where diverse models and metaphors are used to describe consciousness and behavior (Jones, 2011). Acceptance and implementation of an individual’s innovation may be limited by prevalent thought but another unpopular idea from geographical region and time may be easily accepted by centuries later. Scientific progress therefore advocated for slow change. Zeitgeist relates to the naturalistic position in the sense that it suggests changes in society are a result of an individual or individuals and the environment. It also has a delaying outcome within the science and also the wider cultural context. Hence, a new scientific discovery must wait for its time of acceptance in a society. The zeitgeist within science can have hindering effects on its methods of investigation, theoretical formula and subject matter definitions. This influences the acceptance of ideas and concepts in the changing intellectual times and climate. For example, this influenced discoveries in psychology. Zeitgeist is subject to change just like the physical environment. This implies that science according to the naturalistic position exists in the context of an environment, a zeitgeist to which it is receptive (Jungert, 2014). For example, in the evolutionary history of psychology, when zeitgeist favored intuition, meditation and speculation as way to truth, psychology also favored this in the naturalistic position. Rene Descartes was dubbed father of modern psychology due to his extensive work on the natural science and philosophy. He emphasized the use of rational thinking in developing the natural sciences and postulated that the mind and body influence each other. The emergences of his ideas are best described by personalist and naturalistic positions in modern psychology and the natural sciences. Descartes initially states that thought exists and it cannot be separated from him, therefore he exists (Jones, 2011). He also defines thought as something which happens to him and he is immediately conscious of it. Thinking is therefore a conscious activity and he exists because he thinks. He perceives the existence of his body through the use of senses which demonstrates how the mind and body are intertwined. He also proposed the theory of dualism in which the mind and body are dependent on each other, meaning that the mind creates variations to the body while the body also causes variations to the mind. He encouraged a new zeitgeist; empiricism which uses knowledge from the past and to give insight to changing scientific inquiry. This is in agreement to the zeitgeist that scientific discovery from the past might come into acceptance at a later date through empiricism. Descartes continues to construct a knowledge system in which he only considers deduction as a method of reasoning and disregarding perception (Jungert, 2014). His ideas are best described in the personalist position theory in the sense that rational thinking led to the emergence of individuals who employed deductive reason and experimentation to scientific phenomena and ideas hence developing the sciences. These were innate ideas which stemmed from conscious reasoning hence culminating into an age of creative geniuses and personalists who shaped various periods of time in the history of science. Innate ideas ordinarily exist without the use of sensory experiences but they can be experienced in the presence of suitable stimuli. Such ideas as identified by Descartes are the self, perception and infinity (Schultz & Schultz, 2011). Descartes himself also proposed researched on the dualism theory which made him a key proponent of the therefore deriving his personalist status as one of the greatest minds of his time. His ideas can also be described in the naturalistic position in the sense that derived ideas come from external stimuli. The external stimulus refers to the social environment in which an individual is raised or other forces in the environment such as climate and geographical region. If the environment is supportive of rational thinking and deductive reasoning, then the individual is able to become innovative and become a key proponent in a particular field of scientific study (Schultz & Schultz, 2011). His reflex action theory further supported the naturalistic position in that it postulated the influence external forces or objects can bring about an involuntary response to the body hence proving that the environment has an effect on an individual. In conclusion, the discussion above is a clear portrayal of how the ideas of Descartes are described by personalist and naturalistic positions. References Boring, E.G. (1950). Great men and scientific progress. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 94, 339-351. Jones, D. (2011). Psychology and Society. Psychology in Social Context: Issues and Debates, 18. Jungert, M. (2014). The Psychology of Personhood: Philosophical, Historical, Social-Developmental, and Narrative Perspectives. Philosophical Psychology, (ahead-of-print), 1-4. Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2011). A history of modern psychology. Cengage Learning. Read More