Modern Philosophy Essay

Herman Ebbinghaus has pointed out that psychology and philosophy are intertwined one way or the other. In order for Psychologists to study human behavior, as well as metal process, they must go step back and consider being philosophical. One must be rational and logical when studying this process and behavior, thus going back to psychology’s roots. Towards the end of the Renaissance period, Rene Descartes emerged and was tagged as the father of Modern Philosophy. As mentioned, Philosophy and Psychology work hand in hand in analyzing human behavior. Descartes’ ideas were formed when he said that he found formal education with the Jesuits was not enough to feed his thirst for knowledge and distraught on the lack of knowledge that was fed to him during his college or scholastic days. Because of this he opted to explore and find things out on his own. Descartes strong desire to get answers and fill his doubts with facts and certainties; he spent his time finding ways to unite all knowledge. Though a philosopher, he â€Å"for example, he combined his interests in optics and physiology by extracting the eye of an ox and examining the properties of the lens, thereby discovering the fact that retinal images are inverted (as cited, Vrooman, 1970). † Descartes had four rules: First, he would accept nothing as true unless â€Å"it presented itself so clearly and distinctly to my mind that there was no reason to doubt it† (Descartes, 1637/1960, p. 15). Second, he would take problems and analyze them, reducing them to their fundamental elements. Third, he would systematically work from the simplest of these elements to the more complex, and fourth, he would carefully review his conclusions to be certain of omitting nothing. As a rationalist, he has said that reasoning is innate in humans. The capacity to think and put logic and into, perhaps a situation or event in a person’s life is something that is natural and that people do not rely on just experience. People are given the gift to think and make decisions, and these are made and achieved because of man’s ability to rationalize and think logically. Because he was a scientist and a mathematician, he believed that one must doubt on things that has no basis and can not be explained. Cognitive Psychology deals with mental process or the mental state of a person. For instance, studying or analyzing the mental state of a child. According to Jean Piaget, a person’s mental growth had education as a key role in a child’s mental development. It is said that, it is our teachers or mentors that one develops his perception and thinking, among others. In relation to Ebbinghaus’ study of Memory and Forgetting, experiments have been made in order to analyze a person’s capability to memorize and forget. With the help of research and methodology, and Ebbinghaus’ invention of some tests for memory retention, we begin to understand how memory works and improved. What stuck me most on Watson’s manifesto is his strong point and statement that man’s behavior or contribution has been applied to different facets of life and education. Upon reading this, I realized I believed and agree to his principles and view. Psychology is about behavior and a person’s behavior is linked to how he thinks. There is an array of reasons why a person acts or behaves in a certain way. This may be contributed by life experiences, family background, culture or influences of peers. A person may act differently because of their beliefs as well and their way of living. Behavior is also an expression of one’s feelings and emotions. An art fanatic or an artist may act differently or a little bit off the edge, but to them, their behavior and ways are but normal and they are merely expressing themselves, with the way they talk, dress or even walk. Another example is a person’s cultural beliefs and practices. Because people emerged and come from different races and cultures, they act and behave differently. Cultural beliefs are formed in our minds at very young age. These were passed on to us by our parent or ancestors. And from that very young age, till the time that we grow old, those teachings will remain if not in our hearts but in our subconscious. Even though we move away from our birthplace, one way or the other, in spite the influence of the today’s generation and the ever so changing world, we still go back to our own roots and ways. References (N. A. ). DESCARTES: THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE (N. A.). Chapter 10: JOHN B. WATSONAND THE FOUNDING OF BEHAVIORISM