Psychology in the Modern Age

RENAISSANCE.
When the Middle Ages are giving their last gasps, the world is shaken. It seems that people are in a hurry.
for the change in the course of history and thought. There is an evident longing for renewal and to break with
customs that have become tradition. It is believed that men of the Middle Ages have squeezed
too much the system of life, order and thought, then is when humanism begins to enter into
march, the Scholasticism is rejected and a return to the ancient is made but from the perspective of reason. Nature is the
mother of all things and everything is naturalized: science, morality, and religion, but thought strips bare the
things, men discover worlds and new inventions.
The Renaissance points to two stages: the first, an absolute rejection of the medieval, also turning to
the ancient; the second is a deep dive into the philosophy of the Middle Ages until it takes it to its fullest
consequences. It is then with 'The Renaissance' that modern philosophy begins during the 15th-16th centuries.
The thoughts of men progressed slowly and their work was to plant the seed that was to germinate in the
modern metaphysics, which begins with René Descartes (1596-1650).

15th Century - 16th Century <>- HUMANISTS - PHILOSOPHERS:

They undertake the task of separating psychology from philosophy in the sense of making the former a 'science'.
particular." Within the new trend, there is an effort to provide scientific or rational explanations with a good number
In fact, they used to rely on an exclusively traditionalist criterion, within the known norm.
the master said

Although at that time, the term 'psychology' or 'psychologists' had not reached such high specialization.
The Physicists were still natural philosophers, mathematicians or geometers, biologists, and doctors. No one
then I could ignore the fact that Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, as scholars of psychic interactions,
not only were they within the field of psychology, but also in the links of the historical chain of
the theorists of psychology. They marked a step regarding the establishment of the psychological doctrine, which has
has been transmitted to our days.

Astronomy had much to do with travels and discoveries; chemistry and alchemy with the procedures.
technological and manufacturing. The change began with NICOLAS COPERNICUS (1473 - 1543), when his work was published
heliocentric vision of the universe (1543), where he concluded the conception of the Earth as the center of the Universe

(Ptolemaic geocentrism, 2nd century BC) was incorrect. Copernicus then suggests that it is the Sun and not the Earth,
the one located in the "Center of the Universe" around which the planets revolve; he said: The daily rising and setting of the sun
it is due to the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, this sun-centered viewpoint (heliocentrism) on
The universe was not completely original to Copernicus. As early as the 3rd century BC, Aristarchus of Samos had...
arguing that the Earth revolved around the Sun, and in the second half of the 14th century, NICOLÁS DE
ORESME, a follower of the English Franciscan WILLIAM OF OCKHAM, had proposed the same idea, but his points
They were rejected at first glance, as they were certainly contrary to common sense.

KEPLER.
The Scientists, with the 'Heliocentric Theory', of greater cultural and scientific significance, proposed by N.
COPERNICUS (1473-1543), which displaced man from the center of the Universe and placed him in a wandering position.
planet. Copernicus' model placed the 'SUN' at the center of the Universe and the Earth revolving circularly around it.
around.

J. KEPLER (1546-1642). He perfected the Copernican model and proposed the three laws of planetary motion, which
it would mean a radical shift in the history of the knowledge of nature.

GALILEO GALILEI (1546-1642). He contributed to physics as well as to the scientific method, being the forerunner of the 'Theory of the

Classical Relativity. It argued that mathematics is the appropriate instrument and language to handle and
describe the facts of nature. The precision in the concepts in judgments is the necessary condition that
It guarantees true and accurate knowledge of things. It introduced what is known as 'Procedure'
Hypothetical-Deductive, which consists of tentatively formulating a hypothesis and empirically verifying whether it occurs or not.

not in practice the consequences of deduced. If so, the hypothesis is confirmed and otherwise
rejected.

ISAAC NEWTON (1642-1727). Mathematician, Philosopher, and Physicist. He makes the synthesis of terrestrial mechanics and the

celestial mechanics. His seminal work 'Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy' (1686) contains the postulates of
mechanical physics, force and motion generated by them. The precision of its formulas later allowed (1846)
the discovery of the calculation of Planet Neptune; this fact confirmed the definitive triumph of the scientific method
born at the end of the Renaissance and complemented during Newton's time. The fundamental characteristics of
The methods are: Objectivity, Mathematicization, Hypothesis, and Deduction.

The disciplines became science as they were guided by these and other rules of the scientific method.
Psychology became interested in them at the end of the 19th century.

Philosophers became more interested in man, a movement that brings with it the liberation of the individual from his
traditional bonds. Philosophy emphasizes 'man', giving an internal direction to speculation 'The
man becomes a critic of his own faculties, everything is subjected to doubt. On the other hand, the
trust in the power and ingenuity of man who now occupies the 'center stage', as Bertrand says
Russell in his work "Wisdom of the West".

Humanism is the second great event of the Renaissance in the 15th-16th centuries of the Modern Age in the
Philosophy, from there arise the four philosophical systems: RATIONALISM, EMPIRICISM, IDEALISM
TRANSCENDENTAL AND ABSOLUTE IDEALISM; each of these philosophical systems was led by
philosophers motivated to design other methods of knowledge to provide relevant answers to perennial
questions of humanity.

RATIONALISM.

Mathematical Ideal of Knowledge. (application of the deductive method to the solution of problems in the world, the
science, the moral life of man and emotions and feelings.
Predominance of Reason ( rational, intellectual and speculative)
Universalism (valid universal knowledge based on few principles)
Deductive Method (it is the only valid one to reach the truth, the mind goes from the universal to the particular -
mathematical procedure.

RENATO DESCARTES (1596-1650). Mathematician and philosopher. Descartes' method was 'Cartesian Method', it is a
mathematical method applicable to other fields allowing to achieve certainty. It established the following
principles for the proper use of reason:
Accept as true only that which is presented to us as 'Clear and Distinct Ideas'. Like the
MATHEMATICAL AXIOMS
Divide a problem into as many parts as necessary to solve it 'ANALYSIS'.
Arrange thoughts from simple to complex "SYNTHESIS".
Meticulously check everything until we ensure that we haven't overlooked anything.
CERTAINTY.

THE METHODICAL DOUBT.

For Descartes, to find an absolutely certain starting point, he begins by positing 'doubt' in the
knowledge of his time. Only one truth remains for him, 'WHAT DOUBT', to doubt implies the movement of
thought, that is, "TO THINK" and to think one must exist. From there it draws its general conclusion "I THINK, THEREFORE

"I EXIST." What I can know as a "CLEAR" and "DISTINCT" "IDEA" is "TRUE." The "THINKING I"
part of "THE DOUBT", reasoning that was considered the criterion and model of all truth. What I can know with
the same clarity and distinction, that such thought must be equally certain From objectivity it moves to subjectivity,
Being appears as an essential manifestation of thinking; we are because we think. Reality is a representation.
from 'THE THINKING I', since consciousness justifies being and integrates it under its domain.

The "Man" for Descartes consists of two finite substances, plus one that is infinite, thus: RES COGITANS
(thinking substance - man. Executes cognitive actions and determines the movements of the body). RES
EXTENSA (the matter - the world made up of the two spheres of reality that have no contact, communication,
no similarity at all between them). "THE INFINITE THING" (GOD - Ontological foundation of the two finite substances and
who carries out the impossible communication of these substances).

FUNCTIONS OF PURE THOUGHT.-Functions equivalent to the soul- theological aspects of thought

dualist.

When Descartes thinks about the soul or psychic action, he simply turns the immortal soul into a
thinking substance, in a spiritual being that reasons, remembers, and desires. These spiritual actions can find
or no exits in bodily movement.

GODOFREDO LEIBNIZ (1646-1716). Mathematician, Philosopher, and Writer; in this last aspect, his writings were purely
politicians. Friend of Locke, with whom he was a contemporary and had a relationship of friendship and correspondence
about his philosophical thoughts.

The importance of Leibniz in the history of psychology lies not only in the transformation he made in the soul to
adapt it to the different conditions of the 17th century, but also in the particular doctrines that it developed
during this process. It established the perennial institution of the unified mind for modern psychology and for its
harmonization procedures made it seem compatible with the atomic trends of modern science,
thanks to monadology, the evolving monads. The emphasis of Leibniz's thought is unity and the
continuity.

For Leibniz, knowledge in his method is conceived as scientific, general, vast, and rigorous about the constitution of
reality. Finding science in the mathematical method is to presuppose that every true statement is reduced as
mathematics, to the identity of the terms: subject and predicate. In the rationalism of Leibniz for a
a proposition must be analytical, that is, the truth of the predicate is discovered solely by the analysis of the
subject. The propositions that do not meet such requirement are false.

THE MONADOLOGY OF LEIBNIZ.

With this theory, it attempts to explain the constitution of bodies. Bodies are not explained as mere extension and
movement (contrary to Descartes), must have real parts and not parts in the purely mathematical sense, that
they are only of thought. The real parts of which bodies consist are the so-called Monads.

The Monads are Forces, they are dynamic; a body is a complex of hundreds of forces. The Monads are
Animated, they have consciousness to varying degrees. The Higher Monads, like the human soul, possess greater
consciousness. The Supreme Monad is God and has an infinite consciousness, OMNISCIENT. The monads are
INDIVIDUALS, there are no two alike, but they all form a continuous order from the supreme monad to the inferior one.
and they do not communicate with each other.

With this theory, it aims to explain the relationship between thought and the extensive, that is, between the ideal and the material.
Monads form a harmonious set of the world. Since each one does not communicate with the others, each one is a world.
with their own representations. Harmony is given because they are like clocks made with utmost perfection and precision
in their movements that coincide, without one influencing the other. Thus are the soul and the body, they act
parallel but they do not influence each other. Spirit and matter can harmonize through principles
absolute parallels. Suddenly a connection is made, but without violating their absolute differences.

BENITO BARUCH SPINOZA (1632-1677). Dutch rationalist metaphysician of Jewish origin. He defends the existence
of a single substance, the divine, which is identified with the very nature. He was considered materialistic and atheist,
but Novalis considered him a profoundly religious and ethical man who could reject immortality, free
free will and moral responsibility, it was paradoxical. It underscores the theological or cosmic in his 'ETHICS IN THE WAY OF'

"GEOMETRIC", but it is interested in human behavior in the most detailed way. Spinoza sets out to
to treat NATURE and the force of human emotions as if dealing with lines, planes, and bodies; without
embargo, approve specific activities such as eating well, enjoying perfumes, and cultivating the
plants and pleasures such as clothing, music, sports, and theater.

The paradox of Spinoza lies in his relativistic and 'aspectual' way of thinking. What things are and the
The way they operate depends on the point of view that is adopted. Despite their adoption of the mode
geometric way of thinking in his time, with its fixity, its character of absolute and ultimate, caught Spinoza's attention
the variability of thought and the aspectual character of things. The valuation, study, and description of the
NATURE, they assumed he had an interest in immediate problems and concrete things. But the
NATURE for Spinoza is 'GOD' and the ultimate sum and unity of all things.

It is the aspectual character of Spinoza's thought that probably distinguishes him as one of the
outstanding transitionists in the history of psychology. He is one of the most effective proponents of the
naturalization of the soul.

MAN AS AN ASPECT OF GOD OR NATURE.

From the perspective of the NATURALIZATION OF THE SOUL, the primary intellectual application of the aspectual principle
it was about understanding man as an object of GOD OR NATURE, which equates to the approval of
great medieval construction of the Microcosmos. In its spiritualist form, this doctrine comes from mystical ideas of
the Neoplatonists and was cultivated during the RENAISSANCE by: Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), Paracelsus Boehme
(1575- 1624), Campanella (1568- 1639) and others.
Spinoza defends the existence of a single substance, the divine, which he identifies with nature itself: DEUS
SIVE NATURA= GOD IS NATURE, in philosophy it is called "pantheistic monism".

In his fundamental writing, ETHICA (1675) presents a philosophical system in the style of Euclidean geometry.
of primitive terms, axioms, theorems, corollaries, etc.), which in part makes it extremely difficult to summarize their
arguments.

It opposes Cartesian dualism. It challenges the God-World, Mind-Body opposition, asserting that the only
substance is God. The Soul-Body are the modes of two divine attributes, thought and extension, are
like the concave and convex faces of a curved line. With his monism, he understands man as part of the
nature and, considers that human actions exactly as if it were dealing with lines, planes and
bodies. In nature, 'determinism' reigns, and therefore man lacks freedom. Everything is determined.
in its causes; to know something is to know its very causes. If we feel inclined to believe that some
decisions or acts are free, it is simply because we ignore their causes, and, by not understanding the causes,
we think they don't have them.

Spinoza deals with emotions and the psychology of human behavior in Part III of the Ethica, where
holds that the very nature of man determines his impulse to action - conatus, directed towards his own
conservation (Self-Perfection), balance (Homeostasis). When a higher degree of perfection is reached, one
experience pleasure and in the opposite case pain and sadness. Pleasure and Pain are the main emotions of man, and
the others derive from them.

What matters to Spinoza according to Kantor in his work, 'The Scientific Evolution of Psychology' (Editorial
Trillas.page 349) and where it cites Spinoza and says: "Spinoza's great interest is in individuals, their perfection and
destination: All sciences have only one end,' and Spinoza says: 'To achieve the greatest human perfection
possible." The guide to perfection in Spinoza is summarized in his work 'Ethica', in which he provides a complete
exposition of man and his nature as a reflection of a basic spirituality. It is dedicated to the study of
origin and the nature of the mind, emotions, their strength and their power over man and, finally, over power
of reason and its ability to achieve freedom for the individual. Spinoza's reflection on any of these
Themes that have become the content of psychology are based as a central trait on some factor.
psychic.

EMPIRICISTS: They consider the role of experience as the only source of knowledge and explain the
universal concepts and judgments through experience, for only this guarantees true knowledge. The
The precursor of modern empiricism was "Francis Bacon of Verulam", who formulated his principles in his work "Novum".

"Organon" (1620), where induction is made the only method of science.

The role of experience on a passive mind was also considered, the role of the active mind in the
information about associations, with which they prepared the framework for the psychological study of learning and memory.

Luis E. García Restrepo in his 'Introduction to the History of Psychology' notes the following: 'They insist on the nature
experimental science a posteriori, of factual knowledge, and in inductive logic as a procedure for
increase knowledge, in contrast with rationalism, which emphasizes the a priori-rational nature of
knowledge and deduction as an adequate method" (Editorial Limusa, Second Edition, Bogotá, Colombia, p. 50).

FRANCIS BACON OF VERULAM (1561-1626): Precursor.

Representatives of Empiricism: (first empiricists)
THOMAS HOBBES
JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704)
GEORGE BERKELEY (1685-1753)

THOMAS HOBBES: English thinker, born in Westport. He studied at Oxford. He met Galileo and
Descartes during his travels in Italy and France was the secretary of Bacon. It is from these relationships that his is deduced.

concern about the method of mathematical and physical sciences and its application to the man of the naturalist method of
modern physics. Its fundamental theme is 'man as an individual being and as a social being' which makes it
to delve into sociology, anthropology, and the sciences of the State and Politics. Their knowledge is 'empiricist and
nominalist": it bases knowledge on experience, thus assigning to knowledge the task of preparing the
man for practice. The Universals (nominalism) are for him simply names, for they do not exist in the
mind neither outside of it, being only individual representations. Since the 'universals' are signs of things
It is possible to carry out symbolic operations with them through thought, and it makes this a calculation.
closely linked to language. The phenomena are explained through movement, in a mechanical way,
in such a way that mental processes are rooted in the bodily and material, which denies the existence of a soul
immaterial. It conceives the soul as a corporeal spirit, so subtle that it cannot be perceived by the senses, it is
here, from where his "Mechanistic Psychology" is derived.

Rejects Aristotle's idea that "man is social by nature" asserting that man is not
social by nature; society is not a natural reality, but artificial. In the individual, egoism predominates,
desire for dominance and hostility; each one tends to seek their own good, disregarding others. War is
nature and its cardinal virtues are deceit and strength. Life is a struggle in which the strongest prevail.
strong.

His works "Human Nature" (1650) and "Leviathan" (1651) argued by analyzing human behavior and
formulating a considerably systematic psychology.
JOHN LOCKE: English philosopher, physician, and naturalist. Born in Wrington, he studied at Oxford, was a diplomat and
he intervened in the politics of his country, participated in the second English Revolution (1688) and then fled to Holland to avoid

repercussions.

It deserves a special place in the history of psychology because it recognized the soul as having a unique mundane character and the

provided concrete and human cognitive functions. He stands out among his contemporaries for his emphasis on the
place of the soul in the personal and individual matters of human knowledge. He insisted on introducing the soul into the
context of the activities of knowing and wanting of particular individuals, in the ordinary circumstances of the
life.

Locke's Theory of Knowledge is the perennial dichotomy of the internal mental and the external physical.
(Newtonian Corpuscularism), the corpuscles are unknown; but they are the causes or occasions of
knowledge of things. The importance placed on knowing, on the ideas born in the soul or the
to disregard the external causes of mentality and reduce both known things and knowledge to
psychic states.

Locke uses the term 'idea' to refer to words, states of knowledge, and objects of knowledge and to
thoughts; it refers to the fact that ideas are psychological or mental states or processes. Ideas constitute
Functionally, the basis of knowledge and all other mental activities are the mediators between the ...
things that are outside of the mind and the human mind.

The nature of the soul, which was considered soul or mind, like a blank sheet "tabula rasa" devoid of
originally from any ideas, but on which ideas that come from external objects are recorded.

It is proposed to turn knowledge, and psychological processes in general, into development processes that have
defined origins. It emphasizes experience, in knowing things from having come into contact with them. The
the soul is not an entity that passively records, a 'blank slate', in understanding there are two other sources of
ideas. In addition to the ideas of external sense, or sensations; there are ideas of internal sense, or reflections,
that arise from the operations of the mind when it starts working with the ideas it already has.

Locke addresses the problem of knowledge in two aspects: The psychological (how it is produced) and in the
epistemological (what is the scope). This leads to his seminal work "ESSAY ON UNDERSTANDING".
HUMAN
foundations and degrees of beliefs, opinions, and agreements, which examines from the essence, but not in
physical considerations. The work is divided into four books. In the first one, 'On Innate Ideas', where
refutes the Cartesian thesis of the existence of innate ideas.
Summary extracted fromwww.manesweb.8k.com
 Published by Manuel Alva Olivos1:08 PM0 comments
Psychology in the Middle Ages
ROMAN EMPIRE

(Between 800 BC and approximately 1400 AD)

It was characterized by the influence of the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, and the progressive spread of Christianity to
all spheres of society.

With the advent of Christianity and its adoption as the official religion of the Roman State, the beginning of the...

"MILENIO CRISTIANO", "Edad Media", época en la cual los temas filosóficos y psicológicos se subordinaron a
theological concepts, such as: The Knowledge of God, the salvation of the soul, and the rational justification of the
religion, as it is said: 'Truth is inspired by God, and reason by faith.'

THE PATRISTICS.

(2nd-5th centuries A.D.). The term patristics refers to the reflection of the Church Fathers. Within the Roman Empire it was
possible the growth of a new type of society and civilization. It is important to specify this aspect of
Roman period for psychology, since during this time the great dualism developed that was exercising a
a pernicious influence on the evolution of scientific psychology.

From a social and political point of view, the new civilization evolved in the form of a 'Christian community', like a
set of institutions that are the opposite of the naturalistic culture that is the main characteristic of the Hellenic world
and of pagan Rome. Intellectually, transcendentalism carries a name that suits it perfectly, since
that the believers forged the doctrines and beliefs based on the premise that they maintained contact with
a reality that transcends the things and events of daily life, and that is known through means that
they contrast with the observation and the interference based on the latter, that is, from the normal procedures of the
scientific research. Transcendentalism represents an intensification of escape attitudes regarding
the pressures of intolerant social circumstances.

The Church Fathers, collectively known as 'Patristic', were those who reflect an era.
characterized by religion making it the core of personal, family, and social life, but the results were
sensibly different from the purposes of Jesus of Nazareth. Some Church Fathers dedicated themselves to the
solution to the philosophical problems of Christianity through Platonic and Aristotelian traditions. At the beginning
leaned toward the first, but after several centuries of hesitations, it was Saint Thomas Aquinas who
He surpassed everyone by proposing a solution to the problem of the relationship between reason and faith.
The following representatives of this School had an influence on psychology:
Justino Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Gregory Thaumaturgus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Athanasius, Lactantius
Gregory of Nyssa, Nemesius of Emesa, and Augustine of Hippo.

JUSTIN MARTYR (100 AD - 165?). Converted pagan: "The immortality of the soul is not inherent to it.
the same, but the result of free will and the grace of God's will.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA (150 AD - 215?). He advocated for the construction of a bridge between truth.
Christianity and the wisdom of the Greeks, between Christianity and science. Christ is the reason of the world and the source of
every truth.

ORIGINS (185 BC - 254 BC). Christianity is a unified body of doctrine, a philosophy, and a science.
The absorption of science in mystical and affirmative revelation. It also developed the theme of personal salvation.
of man through his ideas about his inner essence, his soul, for which constitutes the door that
It leads to the universal soul, that is, to God." The essence of man is his rational soul that has fallen from the world.
transcendental. In such a way, the soul exists before the body and persists after it. As man
repressing his instincts and passions becomes increasingly similar to God and becomes worthy of salvation and the
redemption.

GREGORY THE WONDERWORKER (205 A.D. - 265?). He gives a speech on the subject of the soul from knowledge.
through the internal route and then through the operations or effects of these, but not through thought, since it is unknown.
The soul is known through actions. The soul is a substance because only substances can persist and
successively acquire or take on various and opposing accidents or characteristics. The soul does not possess color, nor
quantity, nor figure, is sustained by reason when it is supported by various arguments and is incorporeal.

Tertullian (160 AD - 240?). The soul has an external form and triple extension: length, width, and height, but still...
it is a simple substance and without parts, otherwise it would not be immortal. The soul and the body are correlated,
rational and irrational. The soul is in the heart.

HIPOLITO (170 A.D. - 236?). Great Christian Roman Father. Uses a powerful instrument of knowledge for
put aside the doctrines of the natural and moral philosophers of Greece and Rome. All their reflections,
uncertainties and mysteries of their productions are made in a background retrospective in the scene of the
comparison with their positive conceptions regarding science and psychology in particular in their work
Refutations of all heresies

ATANASIUS (296 A.D. - 396?). He is best known as the thinker who gave political and ideological shape to the doctrine
Cristiana also deserves a place in the history of psychology for two reasons: the first, in her already cited work
previously, it offers a brief and unique exposition of psychological doctrine; in the second, it exemplifies well the
Attempts by the Church Fathers to establish the Christian dogma through the display of evidence based
in facts. Anastasio's method for glorifying the immortal, rational, and intellectual soul of man consists of
to declare that one can know God for herself if she remains free from sin. That the rational soul exists, remains.
demonstrated by the difference between man and beasts by his superiority and control over the senses and instincts.
The body is the initiator of action and has its ability to go beyond with imagination and thought.

LACTANTIUS (260 A.D. - 330?). For Lactantius, "God made the world for the good of man and created the
man endowing him with judgment, thought, prudence, and the gift of speech, so that he would be the interpreter of the

thought and in such a way could declare the majesty of the Lord. He is interested in moral issues and the
nature of virtue, the punishment of the wicked, and the reward of the virtuous. Lactantius concentrates most
of his psychological works in the work titled 'On the Work of God or the Formation of Man'. The essence of the work
Lactantius' psychological view is that the soul is incorporeal, a substance akin to the spirit of God. The soul is imperceptible to the

senses, however it is not unconditionally immortal, for a bad man dies both in body and
of the soul. The soul is related to affections, just like with reason, and through the sensory organs of the
Body. Even though the body is very different from the soul, its main function is to serve the latter.
even if the method is not known.

GREGORY OF NYSSA (335 AD - 395). Bishop of Nyssa, developed psychological concepts to serve the
Christian faith. The psychological conceptions of Gregory must be primarily extracted from his two works:
first "On the formation of man" and the second, "On the Soul and its resurrection," which although are
independents fit into a general theological scheme. The first aims to find the place of
man in the scheme of creation; while the second deals with the destiny of man.

NEMESIO OF EMESA (4th Century). From Syria. Studious man and possibly a follower of Hippocrates, as well.
Plato and Aristotle, from Galen and Plotinus. He wrote a work titled 'Treatise on the Nature of Man', it seems
a treaty of psychology rather than a work of theology and the doctrines contained in his work exemplify
admirably the transformation of naturalistic descriptions into spiritualist dogmas.. From his work can be
extract propositions like: "Man is composed of an intelligent soul and a body"
soul and body, but the body is an instrument used by the soul." The incorporeal soul maintains a relationship
with the body, it is neither united, nor juxtaposed, nor mixed with the body," he makes a distinction here between the soul and
the body and a recognition of how two different entities can be combined." The body is made up of the
four elements: fire, air, earth, and water, the same as inorganic things, but also in their quality as beings
alive, of the four humors: blood, phlegm, bile, and black bile." (See chart below Nemesio and Saint Augustine)

SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (354 A.D. - 452 A.D.). Maximum representative of PATRISTIC. He carried out a
masterful synthesis of biblical revelation, Christian mysticism. It is presented as spiritualist psychology, established
to a large extent because of him through his humanist theology. The intense intimacy with which Saint Augustine reacts to
God gives his theology a clearly humanistic nature. It is true that God is the creator of man, of
heaven and earth, but God is in man just as man is in God, this is expressed in the
second chapter of his work titled "The Confessions". Two well-defined characteristics mark with a character
theological writings of Saint Augustine on psychological topics. Firstly, there is no room for doubt that
technical consideration of psychological facts belonging to the realm of the mystical being. The second is closely
In relation to the first, the psychology of Saint Augustine develops as an example or an analogy of unity.
trinitarian in the realm of the purely theological.

SCHOOLING.

(5th-14th centuries A.D.). The 5th century of the Christian era is a very important period in each of the phases of the
Western European culture, especially in the realm of intellectual life. This is the century of the transition of the
Greek-Roman civilization to the new Christian era. This era marks the triumph for the history of psychology.
definitive of the spirit; henceforth reflective thought works entirely with transnatural categories.

By the 13th century, the period of reflection of the Scholastic School began, and a compilation of texts was made.
classics such as the work "De Anima" by Aristotle and the controversy between faith and reason was raised. The maximum
the representative was SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS (1224-1274 A.D.). From a philosophical and scientific point of view, the

scholasticism was deeply rooted in theological and religious foundations. For the scholastics, science was the most
high and noble was the 'sacred doctrine,' as Saint Thomas says:

.... the sacred doctrine is a science because it derives from principles that have been made known to us in the light of a
higher science, namely the science of God and of the blessed. Summa Theologica, part I, Q.I, art 2.

The most important fact for the history of psychology in this 13th century was the advent of the work of
Aristotle's 'On the Soul' and the interest and study that Saint Thomas Aquinas devoted to it.

Thomistic psychology is of notable importance not so much for its transformations of biological psychology.
Aristotelian, but rather by its attempt to assimilate the pagan and naturalist doctrines of Aristotle.

Saint Thomas distinguishes the natural order from the supernatural, faith from reason, and shows how both orders are
they complement each other harmoniously. Natural knowledge comes from reason, the supernatural originates from God and us
discover the truths of faith that surpass the limits of human intellect. Philosophy, with its procedures
Rational beings serve theology to express the teachings of faith. There can be no conflict between faith and reason.
because both derive from God.

In his work 'The Summa Theologica', he dedicates questions 75 to 102 to the problem of substantiality and the
composition of man. It states that human essence depends on two distinct principles: the rational soul and
spiritual (form); and the material body (matter); but it is not a combination of two substances but one
complex substance that owes its substantiality to one of the constitutive principles: the soul. God creates the souls
of each individual in the generational act of the parents, a creation that involves production from nothing. The soul is
present in each and every part of the body, since the perfection of the compound depends on it.

Saint Thomas distinguishes between actions and passions. Although only sensitive appetites are passions, all the
Appetites, both sensory and intellectual, are activities of the soul in comparison to the faculties.
passive intellectuals.

SCHOOL CLASSIFICATION.-

The early years of the Middle Ages, from the beginning of the 9th century to around the year 1000 AD, are often
have been considered as the dark age of Western civilization. Kemp (1990) has paid special attention to the
medieval psychology
learning and with it, the development of science. Kemp gives a description of the medieval method of investigation,
in which he respects the thinkers of antiquity, but did not accept the proposals unconditionally. From
There were contributions from the scholastics, scientific techniques, during, and immediately after this era. The
psychological issues were always the concern of religion. Saint Augustine lived in the 4th century. For him
God was the ultimate truth, and knowing God was the goal of the human mind. Saint Augustine recommended turning to
interior, where the inner abodes of each person are; in his work "Confessions", he reveals his own
emotions, thoughts, motives, and memories. Their revelations are overwhelming, as when it describes
the subtle way his passions and the temptations of a lover, is due to this work of public revelation that has been
sometimes referred to as 'the first modern psychologist'.

But in the 13th century, Saint Thomas Aquinas would come to reinterpret Aristotle and establish the firm form of
Scholasticism, a discipline that readmitted human reason as a complement to religious faith in the search for the
It's true. It was Saint Thomas who grafted psychological processes into Aristotle's De Anima, and this is indeed a fact.

distinction in the history of psychology. He built on the basis of this work an psychological institution, a De
Christianized soul that has continued to exert its influence even into the current 20th century, was that of Psychology.
Objective.

In the 13th century, the founding of the first universities is also characteristic, which were the result of
organize in corporations the cathedral schools of previous centuries. Favored by the Popes and the Kings
French from the University of Paris and others like the Sorbonne and, some time later, the Universities of Oxford and
Salamanca.

In the following centuries, in the 14th century, referred to by Barbara Tuchman (1979) as the 'calamitous century', as the
time of the wars in Europe, and the emergence of diseases such as 'the plague' or 'pest', (1350), which perhaps killed
a third of the population of Europe.. A century that was terrible and gave way to the renaissance of science, the
learning, art, and literature.

Medieval philosophy closes with NICOLAS OF CUSA (1401-1464), who defends the Pythagorean ideas related to
mathematical order of the universe. The 'ratio' or 'reason' says Nicholas of Cusa: 'is the faculty of rational science that
elaborate concepts of things perceived by the senses. To achieve true science, one must engage
another faculty superior to the "ratio", the "intellectus" or understanding, with which, in mystical illumination, we know
Infinite God, realizing at the same time that our reason cannot penetrate Him. Thus we can reach the
summit of science in this learned ignorance, in this knowledge that the truth in itself is inaccessible. Reason
Discursive, the "ratio" perceives the contrasts of things. The "intellectus" knows God as the being in whom all
opposition disappears. In it are all the contrasts, but in a perfect unity.
Summary extracted fromhttp://www.manesweb.8k.com/

Published by Manuel Alva Olivos12:560 comments

PSYCHOLOGY IN ANCIENT TIMES
Psychology comes from the Greek 'psyche,' which means soul, and 'logos,' study or treatise. Therefore, it would be said that the
Psychology is the study or treatise of the soul; but the word 'psyche' also means fluttering or flight of the
butterflies. Indeed, the human soul has much in common with the fluttering of a butterfly; the fluttering in man is
the incessant interplay of their passions, that constant dynamic of their internal forces in the struggle to know themselves
yourself.

Literally, psychology is the science that studies the faculties of the human soul. When we talk about psychology
of animals or of things, the different philosophical schools should be taken into account in the first case. For some, the
animals also possess a soul, but this is instinctive. For others, such as the philosopher Descartes, animals do not have
soul, feeling, and estimation. When we talk about the psychology of things, a metaphor is rather used.
comparison with the soul of humans, especially poets and writers, who project their soul onto being
inert of things. Thus, the poet Virgil spoke to us of 'the tears of things.' The stones, the trees, the sea
Or the clouds, they do not really have a soul; but poets have the fabulous gift of projecting their own
emotions about the world of the inanimate.

Let's take a look at the following chronological chart of history, so that we can have an idea of how it unfolded.
development of psychology as a science alongside philosophy.

ANCIENT AGE. GREECE. 3000 B.C. - 400 A.D.

Since the 4th century before Christ, Greek philosophers sought to approach the knowledge of the soul of
man under philosophical science, since philosophy comes from the Greek 'philos', which means 'treaty' or 'love', and
"logos", "sabiduría", o sea, "tratado o estudio de la sabiduría" ó "amor a la sabiduría".

Philosophical sciences study man and things from their attributes, such as: logic, ethics, and morality.
In psychology, they are the attributes to which the human mind must submit in order to reach knowledge of the
truth; the norms to which human behavior must conform and the nature of those phenomena or
activities (psychic phenomena or of the soul) that specify man and make him a thinking unit,
responsible and free. From this perspective of universal science or philosophical speculation, man has been
object of study and curiosity, just like the other beings of the visible world.

According to the above and from the perspective of ancient thinking, it is possible to make the following division.
from psychology, from a historical point of view: a) Empirical Psychology, b) Classical Psychology and c) Psychology
Scientific.

a) EMPIRICAL PSYCHOLOGY: from the Greek, the empirical is 'empeirikos' which means 'experience' or 'practical', what by its

nature opposes the scientific, also that which we call 'natural psychology', and it is the majority of judgments that
We form opinions about other beings, their flaws, qualities, and personality in general.

b) CLASSICAL PSYCHOLOGY: has progressed alongside the previous one, and has developed within the procedures and
methods of philosophy since ancient times. Regarding the natural curiosity related to knowledge of
Man. Philosophy, as I have said before, has always aimed to order or synthesize such knowledge. It has
treated in this way, to investigate the causes and principles of human activity, the nature of life and many
other factors related to rational behavior.

Its beginnings are found with the great philosophers of ancient Greece.

The Presocratics, who addressed the problems of knowledge by partially rejecting explanations
mythical, supernatural, and seeking natural and rational explanations, open to discussion, to criticism and the
confrontación "empírica" como ya se indicó anteriormente. Estos filósofos trazaron una senda a la que le
Others followed. The pre-Socratics introduced the concepts of: 'pneuma', which means 'breath', and 'psique'.
as the vital principle of living beings and as I have already noted it means 'soul'. This primitive concept of 'soul',
they gave it the meaning of breath, air, breath as something that comes out of the body through the mouth, this concept acquires
later with Plato and Aristotle a metaphysical sense, with religious and transcendental connotation towards the
theological.

There is a distinction among the presocratics of very varied doctrines, fundamentally alluding to nature and to
man, based on 'physics' and also on 'deterministic assumptions', arguing that the phenomena do not
they obey neither chance nor the whim of the gods, but rather to antecedent natural causes that determine their
appearance.

The top representatives of this school are divided as follows: a) Philosophers of nature; b) philosophers of being and of
becoming; c) doctors; d) sophists and finally; e) the Socratic.

PHILOSOPHERS OF ANCIENT GREECE

a) PHILOSOPHERS OF NATURE: their intellectual concern was the question of the 'arke' or principle
the fundamental nature of things, as things change continuously, do they exist or do they not?

Thales of Miletus (around 624 BC)

Anaximander (610 - 546 BC)
Anaximenes (around 540)
Pythagoras (circa 582 - 500 BC).
Anaxagoras
Empedocles (around 450)
Democritus (460 - 371)

b) PHILOSOPHERS OF BEING AND BECOMING: The Milesian philosophers, like any common man, accepted the
Changes observed as they really occur, and the world of sensory experience is no illusion.
They offered a 'philosophical dualism', sensory testimony as the basis of our knowledge and the truth is
provided by reason.
Heraclitus of Ephesus (around 460)
Parmenides of Elea (515 - ?)

c) DOCTORS: Transition of medicine: from superstition to science. Health depended on the balance between the
different organic functions. First systematic dissections and physiological sensory investigations in order to
to discover the process of sensation. The sensory organs and the brain communicate directly through
of channels or ducts, whose rupture or interruption, due to an injury, would lead to the loss of such
communication. Disease is a natural phenomenon, an effect of natural conditions and treatable by means
natural.

Exhibition of the 'THEORY OF HUMORS', the main liquids of the organism, blood, phlegm, yellow bile and
Black bile regulates health when in balance or causes disease when out of balance.
Alcmeon of Croton (around 550)
Hippocrates (460 - 380)
SOPHISTS: they introduced democratic governance, and with it the freedom of association, thought, and speech.
writing, religion. The theses accepted by them were: Relativism, Subjectivism, Individualism, Skepticism,
Legal Conventionalisms, Agnosticism and Humanism.
Protagoras (480 - 411 BC)
Gorgias (485 - 380 BC)

e) SOCRATICS: Ethics as the main philosophy and as norms of good conduct can be known and adjusted to
our behavior.

Truth is reached through the maieutic method, which consists of extracting knowledge from the soul by formulating
questions with skill, in such a way that the interlocutor can understand the concepts for themselves. The man
It is constituted by soul, body, and reason.
Socrates (469 - 399 B.C.)
Plato (427 - 347 B.C.)
Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C.)

Ancient Age

Emergence of the Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Psychological Concepts

Since the Classical Period in Greece and Rome

With Socrates, the 'search for innerness' begins, and 'Know thyself', a maxim that is often repeated and little
assimilated, it is the starting point of knowledge. Innate ideas are present in the soul of every man,
ideas that the soul revives with the help of questioning or self-reflection.

In the context of science, Socrates plays a very important role, he was an innovator and an authentic source of
Knowledge and the scientific method. Regarding psychology, he was interested in the problem of knowledge,
learning and linguistics, from which resulted the 'Socratic anthropology', which has an impact on the
development of psychology in the Greek world.

In order for science to be built and evolve from common and ordinary knowledge, it must reach
stability and reliability. To achieve these goals, it is advisable to build an expert knowledge model and
valid. The rules in the construction of models must distinguish what is 'thing' from 'opinion' or 'simple
affirmation" of the representative and consequent declarations. Uses and customs must give way to the
determination of what occurs, to the analysis and evaluation of the research results. For Socrates, the
the construction of scientific models must revolve around language, where for him the most important are two
parts: a) Universal Definition, which focuses on the essential and facilitates the analysis and description of the object of study;
b) the procedure is inductive, the way to arrive at a general proposition through the examination of the
particulars or samples.

Plato.

He was a student of Socrates, his method the 'Dialectic', which is a process of thought or reasoning that
It contrasts with observation or immediate contact. From the point of view of psychology, it can be attributed to Plato.
highlight, his ideas about knowledge and the soul. Regarding the problem of knowledge, Plato faces the
opposed theses of Heraclitus and Parmenides; in Heraclitus, 'sensory testimony as the basis of our
knowledge and that everything was subject to change". In Parmenides, "the senses could mislead us and that
the truth was provided by reason". Plato refuted both and presented his original solution, although more
mythological character, which from the point of reason. When he discusses the validity of 'sensory knowledge', in the
Teeto argued that: "we know after the sensation has ceased, and that many concepts - 'what',
will be, exists, some, etc.-, are not attributable to any particular meaning; they are neutral, and can even be
known for being blind or deaf. Consequently, they are concepts inherent to reason and their existence is of the
contraries of 'being' or 'non-being'. In 'Philebus' it exemplifies masterfully with the allegory of the cave: 'Men
they are similar to prisoners chained at the bottom of a cave and with their backs to the only opening that leads to the
exterior. They have never seen the light of the sun and only know things by the shadows of men, figures, animals
they project on the back of the cave when they pass in front of the entrance." Those shadows-images represent
sensible knowledge is merely shadows of true reality, which is accessible only through the
understanding. This means that sensory images awaken the true ideas that the soul
he contemplated when he was in the 'region of ideas', before 'imprisoning' himself in the mortal body. The true
Knowledge resides in the soul and reaches our understanding through reminiscence.

Science, which assumes stable, fixed, and immutable objects, cannot come from sensation, but from reason. The
psychological facts enter the philosophical world of Plato primarily through the 'reflection of the
ethical aspects of conduct.

The psychological nature of man is a reflection of the actions and changes of the cosmos of which he is a part.
Human psychology has a difference from cosmic psychology, and they are the principles that are associated.
mainly to social or moral values. Kindness, being reasonable, moderation, irascibility, and the
Impetuosity is an example of genuine psychological facts.

Plato established three classes of psychic phenomena, or three parts of the soul with peculiar activities; these three
parts were called: concupiscence, anger, and reason, this division was made according to what was pointed out in his work 'The
Republic." The concupiscence corresponded to the shepherds, farmers, artisans, merchants, and others; the wrath was
applicable to the guards or warriors, and reason to the chiefs or rulers. As well as towards the division according to
the peoples, and he said that concupiscence was found in the southern peoples, the Phoenicians and Egyptians, who
they only sought trade and riches; of anger, it is said that it was found in the rough and barbaric peoples of the north and
that reason was cultivated by the Hellenic peoples, lovers of culture, art, and morality. It is worth remembering that for
Plato, feeling and experiencing are coarse acts of the organism, while the acts of pure thought or
understanding, they are subtle movements finely executed in the absence of the objects in question, or
when there are no objects separate from the acts. He always talks about people and their actions.

When Plato reflects on a particular behavior, such as distinguishing, remembering, thinking, dreaming, his
The exhibition is presented from a naturalistic approach, which is how it was grouped into some illustrative materials taken
of Timaeus, the Theaetetus and other dialogues.

Thinking and reasoning for Plato are processes that fundamentally belong to the domain of dialectics.
Platonic dialectics has to do with reaching the highest realm of thought and living, that of immutable ideas and
imperishable, perhaps these processes in Plato are separate from human behavior, given the nature of
system of his thinking. Perhaps, in that dialectic despite all its extrapolations and exaggerations, what
It sought to achieve knowledge, stability, and reliability, both for its own value and for its application.
after practical situations. Thinking and reasoning were concrete activities, which is evident in his
description of thinking as a 'conversation of the soul with itself'. In contrast, reasoning is more aligned with
mathematical situations, since this follows the model of mathematical abstraction and consists of the process
to reach the ultimate and final goal, the connection with ideas, which are the highest form of reality.

Aristotle.

Born in Stageira, from the Thracian coast, of Macedonian father and personal physician to the Macedonian king Amintas.
Student of Plato, for whom he had a great esteem as a teacher and friend despite their doctrinal differences.
later would carry, but never set aside the greatness of his master. He made this evident in the elegy that
dedicated to his death, where he speaks of the friendship that united them both and claims that Plato was a man of the highest...

greatness that only someone worthy of it could praise.

It is with Aristotle that the summit of Greek thought is reached. A lofty position in history was achieved.
general of the human sciences, as well as in logic and the arts. He was a naturalistic thinker in psychology, to
despite its harshness and blatant ineptitudes. Not only did it forge the model for psychological studies, thereby leaving its
footprint in the treaties of this science from its time to the present, but rather left us 'a corpus' of the
psychological doctrine. Its approaches and achievements in psychology must awaken the admiration of those who
they strive to cultivate it as a natural science.
As a scientific product, Aristotelian psychology represents a remarkable first step in the establishment of the
psychology among scientific institutions. It addresses psychological objects and facts in the same way as it approached the
from physics and biology; he used the same method as when he studied perceiving, thinking, feeling, imagining,
the dreaming and the reasoning, as when he dealt with the movement of inorganic bodies. Therefore, it is as if
treat psychology as a branch of biology and treat psychological facts as actions of animals and
of plants. Biological activities belong to the domain of physics, just like the general actions of the
inorganic things.

Aristotle was in favor of distinctly separating the work of science from that of dialectic. In Aristotle,
it reaches the shift towards observation and the concrete. Each action or each is recorded accurately.
behavior of things, to later corroborate what was observed. Anyone who studies psychology,
discover in Aristotle that psychological facts are characterized by:

MOVEMENT: in its biological concept says that the soul moves an organism in relation to objects
sensitive or, as we would say, in correspondence with stimulating objects.

DISTINCTION AND KNOWLEDGE: For Aristotle, distinguishing is a complex action of the organism that is in
contact with complex and independent objects. The act of knowing depends both on the known objects or
distinguished as the organism.

INCORPOREALITY: It is a function or action of the complex organism intertwined with the actions of things that
they act alongside her.

The work of Aristotle 'THE ARISTOTELIAN CORPUS' or as we might call it 'THE ARISTOTELIAN TREATISE'
FROM PSYCHOLOGY
the later studies. This work largely compiles three treatises that have reached us as
títulos de sus traducciones latinas y, son : De Anima, los Parva Naturalis y la Historia Animalium.

Book I, On the Soul, serves as an introduction to psychology. It is an introductory book, in which Aristotle
define the subject matter of psychology and indicate the problems it addresses. Then, consider the opinions
of its predecessors with the aim of indicating what is acceptable for Greek thought in the
regarding psychological facts and what should be rejected.

In Book II, one can find material similar to that of Book I, although here he presents his own
conceptions about what psychological facts are. In its main part or rather header, that is, what they are.
psychological phenomena is dedicated to the study of the simplest types of psychological behaviors such as
In these, the definitions of 'psyche' are included, descriptions of various types of psychological actions.
to then engage in discussions about the different activities of feeling and perceiving; for example: of the
sight and its objects, hearing and its objects, etc.

Book III is a more reflective approach to the behaviors and complex psychological facts, for example,
In this Book III, it discusses common sense, thinking, imagining, the nature of motivation, and what stimulates.
to this activity; in part B of this same Book III, it also provides a further explanation of what can be
qualify as 'biopsychology', about sleeping, dreaming, divination through dreams, the stages of
youth and old age, the long and the brief of life, life and death and breathing, these propose as
specific psychological activities of the organism's behavior and also from the perspective of preservation
and well-being. Thus, psychological facts are studied as a natural extension of research.
morphological and physiological.

It established the division of psychic phenomena into: activities of the central organ or the physical body, called
phenomena of a mortal part, and others immaterial or phenomena of the soul or immortal part. He also made a
division by their greater or lesser extent, common to animals and peculiar to humans. In reality, it was a
tripartite division, as it considered plants as animals; there was a vegetative part of the soul, sensitive and
intellectual.

The first part or vegetative corresponds to the phenomena of nutrition, growth, and reproduction, which is
common to all living beings on earth, including, naturally, plants.

The second or sensitive part corresponds to the senses and imagination, with related phenomena and emotions that is the
specific to animals.

The third is the intellectual, the higher thought and will, as exclusive to man. It also distinguishes
as psychic phenomena in thought and appetite, what the Greeks called 'nous' and 'oresis'.

In thought, it distinguishes between sensory perception and fantasy, memory and empirical foresight, in addition to the
supreme intellectual activities, such as abstraction, the formation of universal judgments, and scientific deduction.

In 'oresis', which is nothing more than appetite, it includes higher desires and tendencies and intimate impulses, thus
like all feelings and emotions; all psychic phenomena that are not in thought
correspond to the appetite.

For Aristotle, man is a substance composed of soul and body, united like form with matter.
where you are, two are opposing realities, as matter has a potential character and form
Actual. United, they make up a subsisting being in each of the concrete corporeal substances.
Its functions and operations cannot be attributed separately to either the body or the soul but to the substantial subject that

resulting from the union of both. Man possesses a soul of understanding; the soul makes the material body be
human, is the entelechy (to possess or have perfection) of the body, so says Aristotle in On the Soul Chapter 1-2: 'What
it has the ability to live, it is not the body that has lost the soul but the one that possesses the soul," "The soul is the

principle and origin of nutrition, sensation, thought, and movement.

THEOPHRASTUS. (372 - 288 B.C.)

Greek philosopher, born in Ephesus. He was the successor of Aristotle in the direction of the Lyceum, to be more exact of
where the 'peripatetics' came from, who dedicated themselves to the study of history and natural sciences and who were
the topics that Theophrastus worked on with recognized knowledge and authority. He made a great contribution with his work 'The

"Characters" or "Psychological Types" of naturist orientation, which can be considered the first treatise of
empirical psychology. Describe, with sharpness and psychology, the specific traits of 30 types of reprehensible behavior.
from a moral point of view. Of sober and measured style, according to his explicit criterion. He also makes
contributions in the field of logic and made discoveries such as those of 'double quantification',
he developed 'modal logic' and several theorems for propositional logic, and the doctrine of hypothetical syllogisms.
He also analyzed the concept of 'NOUS' as the highest and divine part of man.

FROM SCIENTIFIC PSYCHOLOGY TO HUMANISM IN GREECE

SOCRATIC SCHOOLS.

The place occupied by researchers of NATURE in the scene of Greek thought became
busy, by social thinkers, by men whose problems were more centered on the mastery of ETHICS OR
OF THE HUMANISTIC. HUMANIST THINKING SCHOOLS were formed characterized by a
pseudo intellectual refinement, psychological studies intensified. The study of non-human things to the
problems of man and his fundamental nature, as well as the relationship with the social system in which he exists
finds and leads to the analysis of psychological behaviors.

ACADEMIC AND SKEPTICAL SCHOOL: THE SKEPTICS.

It is a doctrine that considers the attainment of true knowledge impossible. Its fundamental theory began with
based on a cautious attitude towards problems that were not completely certain and lacked
verification and, also, as a reaction to the speculative philosophical systems that created a period of
crisis in ancient Greek society. Its main method stems from "doubt," a position that would later be adopted.
by Descartes with his doctrine of 'methodical doubt' whose aim would be to achieve 'certainty'. Representatives of this
ARCESILAUS (315 - 241 BC), CARNEADES (214 - 129 BC).

The first representative of this school was the Greek PYRRHO OF ELIS (360 - 270 B.C.). He believed that the ...
Judgments about reality are conventional, based on sensation. However, since the
sensations are variable, it is necessary to suspend judgment 'epoche'. Therefore, one should not decide on anything or
to adopt a particular opinion or belief. The true wise person chooses silence, a path that leads to the
impartiality (ataraxia) is true happiness.
The second representative was SIXTH EMPIRICAL (S.I - II AD).

EPICUREAN SCHOOL: THE EPICUREANS.

Founded by EPICURUS OF SAMOS (341 -270).

Who makes a preview of MECHANICAL THEORIES, saying that 'the universe is composed of atoms and all
its elements and phenomena including the mind and the soul, can be explained based on their own laws
Atoms" (Cf. DIOGENES LAERTIUS, op. cit., vol. 2, pp. 248-269). It criticizes Plato and argues that the source
knowledge is the sensation produced by the atomic effluents released from the bodies, these
they penetrate through the pores of the sense organs, causing new atomic movements within.
from the organism and, finally reaching the soul, give rise to ideas. One wonders, how are the bodies preserved if
Do atoms continuously depart? Epicurus responds that bodies are recreated by acquiring new atoms from the
surrounding medium. The multiplicity of possible atomic movements within the mind enables the formation
of complex ideas and judgments. "The soul is made up of exceedingly smooth and round atoms, extended through
body like forming a network." These animic atoms survive death, they dissolve. (DIOGENES
LAERCIO. op.cit volume 2- p.261 ff). For Epicurus and his followers, science and philosophy could be divided into three
phases:

The Canonical: They understood the study of assumptions or first principles. It was established that the foundation and the

The prototype of knowledge was the sensory encounters with things, preconceptions, and feelings. In the
preconceptions understood the ideas and general principles or derived from those encounters with things; the
feelings consisted of two states: Pleasure and Pain.
Physics: They understood it as the discipline that dealt with everything related to Nature.
Ethics: It was all those ethical aspects of life under the principles of pleasure and pain, where it encompassed the
facts of preference and aversion. This ethics was essentially hedonistic (liberation from desire in the pursuit of
displacer
Epicurus was a philosopher, and his doctrine, according to many, is linked to the pursuit of sensual pleasure, which is something

wrong because what Epicurus really taught was to "live in peace and maintain the serenity of the soul in
"amid the external turbulence"; this is precisely very much in line with the recommendations of the
current psychotherapies. Epicurus said: "man seeks pleasure, for the joy it brings, but this joy only comes from
achieve exercising virtues such as prudence, justice, suppression of desires, in order to reach the ultimate goal
primordial of behavior, the imperturbability, which he called 'ataraxia'.

STOIC SCHOOL: THE STOICS (stoa poikile - porch of paintings).-

Founded by ZENO OF CITIUM in Athens.

Stoicism is a sensualist and materialist doctrine. The formation of ideas takes place through the traces that it leaves.
leaving the perception in the human soul where the representation reproduces; There are some common notions
present in all and that determine universal consent, a notion that later led to an innatism. To these
innate ideas corresponded to absolute certainty. They admit two principles: active and passive, and to the reason that resides in the

they call matter God, but it is a principle that is not spiritual but corporeal, which blends with matter as
a 'seminal reason' or 'generative fluid'. They also accept the existence of four elements: fire, water, air and
Earth. Fire is the 'artificer', it is an 'active' element. The Stoics say that the soul contains eight parts: the five
senses, the organ of voice. the organ of thought, which is the mind itself, and the generative virtue. (DIOGENES
LAERCIO, op. cit., vol. 2 - p. 75.

They conceive the world as a living and animated continuum, each of whose parts is a microcosm, and therefore
one must adjust their life to the natural laws, living in accordance with nature and reason. In this way, the
man will ensure true happiness, which is also identified with ataraxia or imperturbability, serenity or
Impassibility of man. The wise must endure all blows like a rock and rid himself of his possessions.
to achieve imperturbability or apathy, 'ataraxy'. In common language, they say of every stoic attitude: 'they are'
stubborn attitudes, referring to people who withstand the onslaughts of life with bravery and coldness.

CYNICAL SCHOOL: THE CYNICS.

Its main representatives are: ANTISTHENES (444 - 365 B.C.) and DIOGENES OF SINOP (413 - 327 B.C.)
C.).

Antisthenes taught at the gymnasium of the Dog (or grave of the dog, kynosargés), from where the name cynics comes.
although the true founder of the school was not him but his disciple Diogenes of Sinope.

This School was born from the division of the disciples of Socrates. They proposed an ideal of simple living and identified the
virtue with happiness, being this its highest ideal and the human purpose. It is necessary to suppress all desire for the
finite things and moving away from the conventions that distance one from the simple and exemplarily elemental life of the

Animals, such an attitude gives man a sufficiency that borders on self-sufficiency (self-governance). More than a
philosophy, is a way of life expressed in contempt for norms, for the state, for the city, its
practitioners felt like citizens of the world, undervalued culture, and displayed insolence.

In ROME, the sequence of psychological events follows according to Greek naturalism and the continuation of
the processes proposed by the medical doctrine of Hippocrates to those of GALEN - (Pergamon 129 - Rome 199).
Grecoroman physician and personal assistant to Marcus Aurelius. Discovered that arteries carried blood and not air.
as it was believed. His thought exerted a deep influence on the BYZANTINE EMPIRE, which later expanded
to the MIDDLE EAST and then reach Medieval Europe that continued until the 17th CENTURY.

He argued as a thesis that an individual's health is based on the balance between blood and a series of humors.
known as yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. He was a pioneer in the scientific observation of phenomena
physiological, and practiced numerous dissections, which allowed him to identify seven pairs of cranial nerves,
describe the heart valves, and even establish the structural differences between veins and arteries. Likewise,
demonstrated that arteries did not transport air, as was believed at the time, but blood. Author of more than
Three hundred works are currently preserved, totally or partially, around one hundred fifty.

Psychology was subordinated to political and humanitarian interests, even though it remained naturalistic until the
1st century before our Christian Era. After that date, it loses its naturalistic character and becomes,
comparison with other sciences, on the level of intellectual, social, political, and economic factors, due to the
influx of activities dedicated to knowledge and intellectual enterprises towards Alexandria, along with the great
concentration of a strategic point such as the industrial and commercial occupations that provided development
to a certain number of special sciences and humanistic studies.

Rome, as we have already stated, also had its contributions from the Socratic Schools with some
representatives such as:

The EPICUREANS with LUCRETIUS, THE ROMAN (99 - 55 B.C.).

It emphasizes the importance of the function of philosophy as decidedly utilitarian. The purpose of his work, 'On the Nature of Things', is

to save men from the superstitions of religion and free them from the unjustified fear of death. Psychology
of Lucretius; the mind or intellect is the source of guidance and control of life, it is the essential part of man, like
They are the eyes, the feet, the hands, the mouth, all are parts of a complete creature. Lucretius rejects the conception.
that the mind is a harmony, a condition of the organism and not a precise substantive part of it. In its
quality of the part that controls and directs the organism, the mind is located in the middle part of the chest and is
closely related to the vital breath and the color that penetrates all parts of the organism while it is present
alive. In a certain sense, the vital spirit that animates the veins, flesh, tendons, and organs of animals
obey the dictates of the mind.
The Mind and the Spirit are refined atoms, they are corporeal and organic. The action of the mind is so gentle and
fast, which has to be formed by extremely tiny spherical particles. The mind coincides with living, for
Being part of the total organism, the mind exists only when the organism remains intact and alive.

The Sensory Process is based on an analogy between the incessant movement and the impacts of atoms and the
similar notions of images, simulations, or films that emanate from the complexes or molecules that
they constitute sensitive things or objects.

Imagination is the processes that reach their goal through the interstices of the body in general. In the
imagination also has unique images that are not formed from objects, but are produced
spontaneously the air itself. Generally, however, what the mind sees directly is similar to what
it is seen through the eyes. When the superficial images of a horse or a man collide with each other, they
they amalgamate like gauze or gold leaf and we see a fantastic centaur.

The processes of imagination are extremely vivid during sleep because they lack the competition of
the sensory organs and the critical monitoring of memory.

Thinking and control of images, Lucretius considers that the imaginative process is a relatively
passive of behaving. While all psychological activities occur as interaction between images
external and refined internal atoms, in the case of imagination, the organism remains relatively inactive.
It is true that, in both cases of action, the presence of a huge number of films or images is assumed.
of all kinds that move very quickly. But during thinking and remembering, the mind remains attentive and
selective. The active process of thinking allows people to react to the group of men, to the multitude of
a procession or a battle and other complex objects, instead of doing it with ghosts.

In the STOICS with SENECA (5 - 65) born in Córdoba (Spain) and who lived in Imperial Rome, was the philosopher
of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero; the latter ordered him killed.

NEOPLATONISM.

Current based on the ideas of Plato, reveals itself right at the point of Hellenism where it assumes the problem of
metaphysics, almost disappeared from Greek philosophy since Aristotle and marks the division between Greek philosophy and the
Christian philosophy. This school not only takes up Platonic philosophy but also enriches it with its own doctrines.
Starting from the Pythagorean ideas, replace the good, supreme reality according to Plato, with the One, ineffable principle.
Matter loses all independent existence and the universe is conceived as an immense hierarchy of
immaterial realities that, starting from the One and by emanation, descend towards the appearance of matter. It is the
Neoplatonism which in the following time, at the birth of Christianity and throughout the Middle Ages, has given
effectiveness and expansion of what was eternal in the ideas and ideals of Plato.

The founder was Ammonius Saccas (242- ? AD), but the greatest representative was PLOTINUS (204 - 269 AD)
C), student of Ammonius Saccas in Alexandria during the expedition of Emperor Gordian against the Persians.
Afterwards, he went to Rome in 244 and opened the philosophical school there. His life was ascetic and mysterious; he maintained that

he had experienced several ecstasies; he led a mystical, modest life of absolute moral integrity and selflessness,
He said that philosophy was not just a mere science and a pastime of reading books, but a way of life. He placed life
contemplative over an active life, intervened in concrete and practical life. Her writings after the age of 50
years were collected, ordered, and published by his student Porfirio, from which he made a collection in 6
sections with 9 treaties each named 'Enneads = nines', moral works, considers the soul
as the organizing form of the body violently united to it. The essence of man is his soul, everything else
it is juxtaposed and accidental; the soul is immortal and also responsible for the merits or faults committed in each one
of their bodily existences, and for this they must be rewarded or punished. The ascetic can achieve that their soul
return to the universal soul, freeing oneself from the vicissitudes of bodily existence.

What Plotinus seeks above all in his psychological thought is to demonstrate within his theological framework.
and mystical, that the soul has an independent existence of its own, different from the body and other corporeal things.

Thinking, reasoning, and understanding are the higher psychic processes, independent of the body and are of
two classes: those related to the Logos and that encompass opinion, will, and thought
discursive, and the even higher actions executed by the Intellect, the Ego or knowledge, intuitive thought and
true knowledge. Thinking and reasoning are transcendent. The soul that performs such actions remains
definitely beyond the reaches of human experience.

The scientific psychology regarding what Aristotle and his predecessors forged continued to exist for a
indefinite period, beyond the recession of Greek science in the West. The scientific character of psychology is
lost for centuries, only after a long history, the shell of psychology was partially emptied of
spiritualist content with what they had filled it during the so-called 'Dark Ages and the Middle Ages'.
Summary extracted fromwww.manesweb.8k.com

Published by Manuel Alva Olivos