The Axial Period

The Hellenistic Age and Beyond

Plato revisited The Problem of Knowledge and the Knowable

The Forms and Reason, truth is possessed within and is ‘remembered’

Senses will not lead to truth Nativistic and fatalistic

Compare to modern theories of cognition and genetic underpinnings of intelligence etc.

The Problem of Conduct Reason controls the appetites, passion in aid of reason

strengthens resolve (harmonic existence) The unjust are not happier any more than the sick are relative

to the healthy The Problem of Governance

The polis is the extension of man and has the same ‘components’ of the soul: rational, appetitive, sensing

Aristotle ~384 BC – 322 BCE Student of Plato, eventually set up the Lyceum as a

rival to Plato’s Academy Categorized and catalogued a large number of

observations made of physical and biological phenomena

Treated many topics relevant to psychology Plato – truths in the forms that exist independent of

nature, known only by using reason (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 rational thought was information from sensory experience.

Contrasting views of Plato and Aristotle set stage for epistemological arguments throughout history

Aristotle’s logic The founder of formal logic

Deduction, syllogisms An argument consisting of three parts, a major

premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion Interested in determining what

combinations of premises in which all, some, none lead to which valid conclusions using the same terms

Examined categorical claims as well as hypothetical, such as if p then q but p is impossible so q is

Aristotle’s Science Science as it would eventually progress to

could be said to have started with Aristotle Although not providing a quantitative

description as today’s scientists would, he was a keen observer (well, usually) that sought to understand the world around him based on what could be perceived physically

For him it was an investigation of the forms which nature takes

Aristotle’s Science Some observations of the natural world

Thinking occurred in the heart Guys have more teeth than gals

For some reason he didn’t actually check this Falling bodies fall at steady speeds Dolphins give birth to live young and were

classified as ‘beasts of the field’ rather than sea

Hierarchy of species – the beginnings of an evolutionary theory

Aristotle: Actuality vs. Potentiality Form is something that nature approximates to,

but is not separate from nature Kind of like a prototype Distinguishes Potential vs. Actual

Matter – potentiality Form - Actuality Matter is responsible for the deviations from the norm

The form sets in place restrictions on what can be, and the task of the scientist is to discover the form in the variations for which matter is responsible

Discovery of the form is to understand what applies to all things of a certain type

God is pure form without matter or potentiality

Aristotle and the problem of universals One can see in his science the method

of induction, observing the particulars to come to some generality

Anything will do as a premise, it just must be agreed upon Operational definition

The study of nature is the study of change, and for Aristotle that change had to begin somewhere The Prime, or Unmoved Mover

A final cause

Aristotle: Cause To understand object or phenomenon we must

know its causes Four answers to the question ‘For what reason?’ Material cause

Matter of which it is made Formal cause

Form or pattern of the object Efficient cause

Force that transforms the matter Final cause

Purpose – why it exists

Aristotle: Purpose Everything has a purpose –

Teleology Everything has a function built into it (entelechy)

Entelechy keeps an object moving and developing in its prescribed direction to full potential

What gave everything in nature its purpose (entelechy) was the unmoved mover - caused everything in nature but was not caused by anything itself.

It set nature in motion and little else – it was a logical necessity

Compare these views to later pragmatism/functionalism, Peirce’s chance as the root cause?

Aristotle’s Metaphysics Metaphysics: ‘after Physics’

Science of what is Beings can be divided into ten distinct categories

Substance, quality, quantity, place etc. Substance

The primary kind of thing All others depend on substance

E.g. color in some object that is What is substance? Essence, universal, genus, and subject?

the essence of x, or some universal predicated of x, or a genus that x belongs to, or a subject of which x is predicated.

Substance for Aristotle is equated to subject “The substance of each thing is that which is peculiar to it, which

does not belong to anything else”. The form

Aristotle’s Ethics Conduct Every action aims toward some good For man it is eudaimonia, the activity of

the soul in accordance with excellence Man fulfilling his potential leading to

happiness in living the good life Doctrine of the Mean

Virtue as the mean Every ethical virtue is a condition intermediate

between two other states, excess and deficiency

Aristotle on the Soul The soul Inseparable from the body (its form), necessary for life

No soul surviving after death? “It is not necessary to ask whether soul and body are one, just as it is not

necessary to ask whether the wax and its shape are one, nor generally whether the matter of each thing and that of which it is the matter are one. For even if one and being are spoken of in several ways, what is properly so spoken of is the actuality”

Hierarchy of the soul, each necessary for the next, more advanced species will possess the other parts of the soul, up to humans with a mind

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. Only humans have the capacity for a rational soul

Aristotle on the Soul Functions of the soul

Nutritive Appetitive Sensory Locomotive Thinking

Livings things differ with respect to which functions of the soul they possess, the latter alone is linked with man

Aristotle’s Psychology Aristotle is perhaps our first true

psychologist (or at least physiological psychologist)

Was not materialistic per se*, but did try to understand psychological problems with an eye to the underlying physiology

Concept of mind (nous) is distinct from soul (anima), though may be a type of soul along with others; does not die with the body

*Trying to ‘categorize’ Aristotle’s views is a bit problematic

Aristotle: Sensation and Perception Sensation and Perception – information

about the environment is provided by from the five senses

Perception explained by motion of objects that stimulate a particular sensory system Senses as motion detectors E.g. seeing results from movement of light,

touch from movement of flesh We can trust our senses to yield at least

a somewhat accurate representation of the real world environment

Aristotle: Imagery Imagination and dreaming Imagination lies between perception

and reason Depends on sensory experience but

uses thought also Dreaming

Images from past experience which are stimulated by events inside or outside the body

Aristotle: Perception and Thinking General cognition Mind (intellect or reason) as the part of the soul by which

it knows and understands Has the potential for thought, but must impacted from

without in order for this to be actualized Common sense, distinct from the typical 5 senses,

passive and active reason Sensory information is only first step in gaining

knowledge – necessary but not sufficient element in obtaining knowledge

Information from multiple sensory systems must be combined

Common sense coordinates, synthesizes information from all of the senses for more meaningful and effective experience

Perceptual organization

Aristotle: Thinking Passive reason

Uses synthesized experience to function in everyday life.

Active reason (epistemonikon) Uses synthesized experience to abstract

principles and essences Highest form of thinking

Active reason provides humans with their entelechy – purpose is to engage in active reason, source of greatest pleasure.

Aristotle: Learning and Memory Memory, recall, and laws of association Remembering

Spontaneous recollection of a previous experience Recall

An active 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/or in same situations

law of similarity - similar things are associated law of contrast – opposite things are associated law of frequency – more often events occur together, the

stronger the association Laws of association are basis for most theories of

learning and association

Aristotle: Emotion and Motivation Motivation and happiness

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 Humans however can use rational powers to inhibit our appetites Conflicts arise between immediate satisfaction and biological

drives and more remote rational goals. Aristotle, like most Greeks, held self-control and moderation

as a high ideal – the best life was one lived in moderation and control.

Doctrine of the mean Emotions and attention

Emotions function to amplify any existing tendency (behavior) Emotions also influence person’s perception to be more selective

Greek Physiology Early medicine – temple medicine, healing rituals practiced by

priests (kept secret and guarded), accompanied by much ritual and ceremony by patients.

Alcmaeon ~6th century BCE? Naturalized medicine

Proposed a balance of physical qualities needed for health “Alcmaeon said that the equality (isonomia) of the powers (wet,

dry, cold, hot, bitter, sweet, etc.) maintains health but that monarchy among them produces disease.”

The physician’s job was to help the patient regain 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.

“All the senses are connected in some way with the brain. As a result, they are incapacitated when it is disturbed or changes its place, for it then stops the channels, through which the senses operate.”

Although thought by many to be among the first to do so, actually probably did not practice dissection

Greek Physiology Hippocrates ~460 - 377 BCE

“Father of Medicine” Hippocrates proposed that all disorders (mental and physical)

are caused by natural factors such as inherited susceptibility, organic injury, and by imbalances in bodily fluids

Humans are made of four humors which need to stay in balance for health

Phlegm Blood Yellow bile Black bile

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

What happened to that idea?

Greek Physiology Galen (much later, 129-

200 CE) associated the four humors of Hippocrates with four temperaments and produced a rudimentary theory of personality

If one of the humors dominates, the person displays characteristics associated with that humor

Humor Temperament Characteristic

Phlegm Phlegmatic Sluggish

Blood Sanguine Cheerful

Yellow bile Choleric Short-tempered

Black bile Melancholic Sad

Importance of Greek thought 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 about the nature of man and the universe, also engaged in critical discussion

After Aristotle’s death, philosophers either relied on teachings of past authorities, particularly Aristotle, or turned attention from descriptions of the universe to models of human conduct

The critical, questioning tradition of the Greeks was subdued until revived in the Renaissance

Post-Aristotelian Philosophy

Cynicism Cynicism

back-to-nature philosophy Antisthenes ~445-365 BCE

Pupil of Socrates Diogenes ~412-323

Largely thought themselves Socratic while preaching an austere view of the conduct of life

Contrast with the Cyrenaics who advocated the pursuit of pleasure

Diogenes by John William Waterhouse, 1882

Cynicism Life free of wants, pleasures, and conventions of society, true

happiness depends on self-sufficiency, quest for simple, independent natural life.

Seek virtue What is practical, efficient?

Cynics argued that animals provide the best model for human behavior

The dog as symbol of the school Needs are natural, as are the satisfaction of

“Nothing natural can be bad” ~ Diogenes (who would fart loudly in crowded places, urinate, masturbate

etc. in public) No religion

Primary message was that nature should guide human behavior, social conventions, including religion, were human inventions and cause shame, guilt, hypocrisy, greed, envy, and hate.

Epicureanism Epicureanism

philosophy of materialism, free will, no supernatural influences in the world, and no after-life

Epicurus ~341-270 BCE Lucretius ~96-55

Epicureanism Epicurus took physics almost entirely

from Democritus’ atomism Atoms fall through the void, as they do,

they swerve, collide and combine to form the matter we see

Lucretius extended the idea to the topic of free will, suggesting it is the swerve among the atoms of which the soul is made up Free will as the product of randomness

(indeterminism)

Epicureanism The ‘quadruple remedy’

Do not fear the gods The gods have no concern for us Are separate from humans, in another realm of the void

Do not fear death Death is nothing to us Simply the dissolution of atoms

Do not fear pain Pain does not last long Pleasure and pain as arising from the interaction of

atoms with those of the body and soul Pleasure is natural, pain short relative to pleasure,

pleasure as the removal of pain Pleasure is easy to obtain

Epicureanism Pleasure of three kinds

Natural and necessary E.g. the simple removal of pain

Natural but not necessary That which is not natural

Pursuit of the first is ideal In other words, not hedonistic Strive for tranquility that comes from balance between lack

of or an excess of anything, life of moderation. The good life is thus realizable and should be our goal

The good life was free, simple, rational, and moderate.

Epicureanism Epistemology All perceptions true All we have as a source of knowledge is

sense perception The action of atoms on the sense organs

and soul Thought not independent of sensory

knowledge Thus a completely empiricist approach

Stoicism Zeno ~335-263 BCE Chrysippus of Soli

~280-207 BCE

Everything happens for a reason

Stoicism All things outside of objects of thought are

corporeal (including soul) Materialistic view

Believed in a soul of the world (pneuma) World seen as organic

World ruled by a divine plan (the form of its matter) and everything in nature is there for a reason

Everything happens for a reason, no accidents, all must simply be accepted as part of the plan

Principal vs Proximate causes Soft determinism- approximate cause reacting to sense

perception but there has to be someone there first, the person and their nature which is the primary cause

Stoicism The good life involves accepting one’s fate

with indifference Only personal freedom was in choosing

whether to act in accordance with nature’s plan

Perfect duty Adhering to the highest good: being totally in accord

with reason Free from passions which distort truth

Imperfect duty Getting by with the obligations of everyday life Live without the insight of the sage

Stoicism Epistemology Emphasis on knowledge through sense-

perception An analogy:

Stimulus as the open hand Bending of fingers assent to it (attention) Clenched fist as apprehension The fist enclosed by the other hand true knowledge

Thus truth is to be arrived at by reason about experience

Skepticism Skepticism

suspension of belief

Pyrrho ~360-270 BCE The ‘New’ Academy Sextus Empiricus ~2nd century CE

Chronicler of skeptical thought Lucian 120-200

The Sale of Philosophers

Skepticism Pyrrho claimed that nothing could be known with certainty and

that this understanding was the key to happiness, free from care

Even lived as such Skepticism proposed that arguments for and against any

philosophical doctrine are equally compelling Noted that whatever one believed, it could turn out to be

false, thus, one could avoid frustration of being wrong by not believing in anything

Two guides for living, appearances and convention Sensation/Feeling Adherence to custom without formal beliefs

Arcesilaus later introduced the skeptical doctrine to the Academy and began the attacks on the dogmatists, or those philosophers who claimed some things could be known as true

Skepticism Carneades(~214–129 B.C.E.) followed,

introducing the notion of probability as a substitution for truth

No final criterion of truth Three grades of probability

The merely probable The probable and confirmed The probable, confirmed and tested

Such a view of the ideas of Carneades places him as an important figure in the philosophy of science

Theory Falsification/confirmation Probability

Skepticism Later (formal) Skepticism Aenesidemus

Skepticism as inquiry All we have are appearances, which conflict

10 modes or types of differences that suggest perceptual relativity

Differences in animals, humans, senses, perception, frequencies etc.

So much out there that truth in absolute sense is not possible

Suspend belief Suspension of belief leads to tranquility of the

mind