PSY502 Short Notes Set 3

The first and the foremost problem in any discipline is that of the scope and the definition. Such is the case with psychology. It is only when we define psychology that we can move forward to view “psychological” thoughts and ideas of man from ancient times up to today. Psychology for that and the present purpose can be defined as the “study of mind and body.” The ancient man regarded “soul” as something that was invisible and resided inside a person. He had his own explanations for the behavior of the soul and the body. For example the soul escaped the body when a person was asleep. The escaped soul then performed certain actions on behalf of the person that was visible in the form of dream work. Further, dream work, fainting spell, epileptic fits, mental and physical discrepancies were also regarded as expressions of the soul. The ancient man also believed in what is termed “animism.” Animism is the process of seeing human qualities in inanimate objects such as moon, stars, stones etc. He humanized those objects in order to make them easy to understand. The ancient man had a strong belief in magic and tried to learn and adopt magical tricks which were his way of exercising control over things around him. Ancient IndoPak history of psychology was no exception where also magic was an important element. Magic as mentioned earlier, was used to exercise control over others and nature. It may be used for negative purposes or positive purposes. The ancient man also indulged in different exercises and activities to gain control over his body. Yoga was one of such exercises involving breath control and different body postures. One of the yoga’s beliefs was that body and soul are related and connected and this connection influences body and soul both. The ancient philosophy or psychology of the sub-continent advanced the belief that consciousness is related to the brain. The ancient Europeans, the Greeks for instance, thought that consciousness was a function of the heart of a man. About a thousand years B.C. the sub-continentals differentiated between mental and physical labor. Mental labor was the process of thinking and using the mind to solve problems, while physical labor was to perform certain tasks physically. Mental labor was considered superior by the ancient man while physical labor was considered inferior. They also believed that our mental faculties are inherited. According to the sub-continentals Atman or the soul of a person was the pure self. Further, the world around us was an illusion or a deception played on us by our senses. Some others believed that consciousness and mind were the products of material development. These two beliefs are called Idealism and Materialism today. The later ancient Greek philosophy has a number of similarities to the sub continental views.

The ancient Greek philosophers/psychologists regarded three elements to be the basic ingredients of all matter including humans.

These three elements were:

• Water
• Air

•Fire

The ancient Greek philosophers also put forward the view that contradiction is a

permanent element in the world and because of it the world is influx all the

time. This means that every time a phenomenon arises there is a counter explanation to the phenomenon. Thus a contradiction in explanation arises which leads to further investigation and further phenomenon and counter phenomenon. When this process continues over a long period of time, we find the world to be in a constant influx (an arrival or entry of large numbers of things). One of the greatest developments of the Ancient Greek philosophers was that they put forward

the view that everything consists of small indivisible particles and these

particles act upon on the soul to create sensations. This was later found to be true with the discovery of atoms.

Socrates

Socrates is considered to be one of the most important ancient philosopher/psychologist. He laid the foundation of ideas for many philosophers/psychologists to follow. Socrates was born in 469BC and he died in 399BC (years of Christ to come).

1. In his opinion knowledge and truth reside in the mind and one has to look for and find it there. It means that in order to gain knowledge and understand various phenomenon’s one has to look inwards instead of looking at the outward things and trying to find an explanation in them.
2. He further said that knowledge and awareness create virtue, so in order to be virtuous one has to look into the self. In other words, Socrates stressed on the study of soul i.e. looking inwards, and he rejected external observation.
3. Another of the Socratic contributions is that he defined the concept of happiness. To Socrates, stealing is not happiness but the satisfaction gained through acquiring by honest means is happiness.
4. He regarded the soul, called psyche in Greek, as superior to body and said that the psyche or the soul helps us to distinguish between good and bad. Socrates asserted that all things have a definite purpose and nothing occurs without that purpose.
5. Another of the great contributions of Socrates is his method of teaching. It is called the Socratic method of teaching. It is also the modern method of teaching and it consists of a dialogue, rather than monologue and focuses on the logical correctness of the argument. The teacher and the student interact with each other and have an intelligent dialogue that helps them to understand and comprehend better. The monologue is discouraged because it involves only one way flow of information, further it does not clear up any misunderstanding that may arise in the mind of the students, who are not able to express themselves. The Socratic method of teaching is in practice these days.