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Epistemological issues: Empiricism vs. Rationalism.

•What

is empiricism?

•What

is rationalism?

•What

evidence (Psychology research) allows us to decide between them?

•What

decision would you make?

What Is Rationalism?

Plato thought the way to understanding was inwards.

By focusing on their own thoughts and reason, humans could get in touch with the realm of the never-changing Forms.

Rationalism: The conviction that reason is the source of knowledge and that truth is established on the basis of logic and not the basis of perception.

The main investigation method in rationalism is deduction: A way of reasoning in which one starts from a number of indisputable premises from which new conclusions are drawn.

The conclusions are guaranteed to be true if the correct logical rules have been followed.

Rationalism was embraced by the Catholic Church and dominated the Middle ages.

It formed the core of Descartes Philosophy: The divine soul had innate knowledge which could be made explicit by thinking.

Descartes did not deny the existence of sensory experience, but minimized their significance.

Descartes reasons that he must have the

basic characteristic of thinking, and this thinking thing (soul/mind) is quite

distinct from his body; the existence of a God; the existence and nature of the

external world

•For

Descartes three abilities constitute human reason:•Intuition

– the apprehension of the simple natures of a subject•Deduction

– the process of inferring the necessary relationships between simple natures

•Enumeration

- a review process used when deductions become so extensive that errors are

made due to a faulty memory

Aristotle attached more importance to precises observations at the start of knowledge but he too gave predominance to insight and reason as the basis of understanding

Aristotle was the founder of logic, the formulation of rules that made it possible to draw valid conclusions from premises.

Aristotle treated the observation as a mere exception to the logical conclusion.

Such exceptions were possible and said nothing about the natural flow of reality. They were just exceptions to the general rule.

What is Empiricism?

View according to which knowledge is obtained by means of perceptual experiences; usually involves the idea of associations between the ideas to combine the individual perceptions; also emphasizes in inductive reasoning.

The first explicit formulation of empiricism as a doctrine was presented in an essay concerning human understanding, Published by John Locke.

Locke defended the view that the human mind at birth was a blank page : Tabula Rasa.

Experiences left their marks and made associations with the marks already present.

As a consequence all human experiences was based upon experience and meticulous observations should be the basis of the scientific method

In order to understand empiricism knowledge should be evidence-based not principle driven

Main type of empiricism is induction: form of reasoning in which one starts from observations and tries to reach general conclusions; is needed in science to turn observed phenomena into scientific laws.

Locke's book appeared in the Principa Mathematica.

Locke was heavily influenced by the success of Newton's physics.

Empiricism suited natural very well, they rapidly became convinced that knowledge had to start from meticulous observation.

Descartes and Dualism + The Relationship between Mind and Body

Dualism: View about the relationship between the mind and brain that considers them as two different realms; In general the mind is seen as immaterial and in control of human behavior ( free will)

I

have a clear and distinct idea of material substance, the essential or defining

attribute of which is extension.

Therefore,

it is at least possible that material substances exist.

I

have a clear and distinct idea of mental substance, the essential or defining

attribute of which is thought.

Therefore,

it is a least possible that mental substances exist.

To

say that two things are not really distinct means to say that it is impossible

that they could exist separately.

Matter

and mind can possibly exist separately, therefore they must be really distinct.

And

although we suppose that God united a body to a soul so closely that it was

impossible to form a more intimate union, and thus made a composite whole, the

two substances would remain really distinct, notwithstanding this union' (Principles of Philosophy,

part one, §60, I, 213).

Plato argued: Soul existed before and survived the body.

Human souls were made of the leftovers of the soul of the cosmos - soul, they had knowledge of the perfect realm that contained the eternal, ideal forms of which the wordy objects were but imperfect reflections filled with error.

Focusing on innate knowledge of their immortal soul, human could get access to the true ideas.

Some

critics have argued that Descartes believed in a ‘Ghost

in the Machine’

•

The connection between body and soul

(mind) is so intimate that they cannot be separated (and is one of God’s miracles)

Ideas

are innate

Compare a piece of wax at two times: once

while the wax is in a solid state, and later after the wax has been melted by a

fire.

Between these two states, the wax somehow

loses its hardness, colour, shape, odour, and so forth.

All the sensible properties that might

allow us to identify it as the same substance have changed.

Thus, our senses alone cannot inform us

of the continuity of the two states of the wax, so what does?

Books 1-3 : John Locke For Empiricism

Book 1 : Against Innate

That

something is innate (e.g. knowledge/ideas) is a hypothesis and requires

empirical support.

If

propositions are innate they should be immediately perceived (otherwise what is

their value?)

But

“children and idiots” do not demonstrate evidence of this

But

perhaps such innate ideas are dispositional (i.e. they are only expressed in

certain situations/conditions)

Locke

argued that such dispositional accounts lack an adequate criterion for

distinguishing those innate proposition from those other ideas that the mind

may come to know from experience

Locke's argument: Appeal to so-called facts of child psychology

If you can look at what a young child is capable of doing, you will find no evidence of inborn ideas.

A young child is not born with truths imprinted on the mind-but there are various steps by which the mind attains knowledge e.g. mathematical knowledge depends on the acquisition of prior abilities, a child does not know that 3 + 4 = 7, until he comes to be able to count to seven, and has got the name and idea of equality.

Book 2 : Empiricism and the Tabula Rasa

The

mind is a tabula rasa

(blank sheet) until experience (sensation and reflection) provides the basic

materials out of which most of our more complex knowledge is constructed.

The

mind engages in three different types of action in putting simple ideas

together

Combination

– combining simple ideas into complex ideas.

Relating

- bringing two ideas, whether simple or complex, together so as to take a view

of them at once, without uniting them.

Generalisation

- the production of our general ideas by abstraction from particulars, leaving

out the particular circumstances of time and place, which would limit the

application of an idea to a particular individual.

In

addition to these abilities, there are such faculties as memory which allow for

the storing of ideas.

"Where does our knowledge of the world come from" : Locke - From experience, in that our knowledge is founded.

Expresses the hybrid nature of the essay

Locke outlined a psychological theory, traces human knowledge back to experiences

"Whatever belief is not based on experience, has little right to be considered knowledge."

Locke outlined a psychological theory

Book 4: What can we Know?

What

is knowledge?

"the

perception of the connection and agreement or disagreement and repugnance of any

of our Ideas" (IV. I. 1. p. 525).

This

contrasts with Descartes claim as knowledge as certainty

We

can know our own existence, the existence of God, mathematics and morality with

certainty

Any

other knowledge is probable rather than certain

This

is not probable in the statistical/mathematical sense but probable in the sense

that evidence exists that leads the mind to judge a proposition true or false

but without a guarantee that the judgment is correct

This

decision is made on the basis of rational thought and not just on the basis of

associations

Locke's Influence on Psychology

Natural

science Psychology is based on the idea that knowledge is based on sensory

experience, but unlike the behaviorists

(later lecture) Locke emphasized rational reflection

Associations

in Locke’s view ‘inhibit’ rational thought leading to errors in thinking

Although

the content of the mind is based on sensory impressions acquired through

experience the ‘operations’

of the mind are innate

Empiricism had far-reaching effects for psychology.

One of these was that it led eventually to the view that

only the external stimuli which an organism was receiving, and the behavior which

it showed as a result, counted as valid data for understanding the human

being-or any other animal.

Empiricist argued that internal processes, such as thinking,

were observable and uninteresting. Only actions to external stimulation., if

they mattered they would show it by influencing behavior.

Observing behavior in response to stimulation would be

enough.

'Black box' was fundamental principle in the school of

psychology known as behaviorism.

Locke perceived that we do not respond to each individual

stimuli as it occurs.

Instead we respond to

whole events, or episodes.

Only possible because we have combined together a number of

chains of associations.

We begin by linking one stimulus with another, and go on to

form ever more complex chains of associations as we gain more experience in

life.

Although it might seem as though we are dealing with single,

complete unit of interactions, it is really composed of many simple learned

associations, combined together: Known as associationism: Also important in behaviorist

theory.

Evidence for Rationlism, Descarte

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Leibniz

was one of the great polymaths of the modern world.

Engineer

- calculating machines, clocks, and even

mining machinery.

Librarian

- invented the modern idea of cataloguing.

Mathematician

- ground-breaking work in topology and

calculus (his notation has become the standard).

Physicist

– advances in the theory of momentum.

He

also made contributions to linguistics, history, aesthetics, political theory

and philosophy

Leibniz asserts in the Monadology §§31–32,

“Our reasonings are based on two great principles, that of

contradiction… [and] that of sufficient

reason.” (G II 612/AG 217)

To these two great principles

could be added four more: the Principle of the Best, the

Predicate-in-Notion Principle, the Principle of the Identity

of Indiscernibles, and the Principle of Continuity.

Anti-Materialst & Anti-Dualist

Leibniz

denied that there is only a choice between materialism and dualism

“One is obliged to admit that perception and what depends upon it is inexplicable on mechanical

principles, that is, by figures and motions.

In imagining that there is a machine whose construction would enable it to

think, to sense, and to have perception, one could conceive it enlarged while

retaining the same proportions, so that one could enter into it, just like into

a windmill. Supposing this, one should, when visiting within it, find only

parts pushing one another, and never anything by which to explain a perception.

Thus it is in the simple substance, and not in the composite or in the machine,

that one must look for perception”. Section 17, Monadolgy, (1714)

In

essence his rejection of dualism follows from his rejection of materialism as

an explanation.

Mind & Body Parallelism

Parallelism, or psychophysical parallelism (meaning that mind and body are parallel) is a form of dualism which denies any Interaction between mind and body.

Although Leibniz was a monist,

believing that only one true substance exists, he presented a form of

parallelism in his theory of mind. Leibniz states that although they are

of the same substance, the distinction between mind and body is a

useful one for the purposes of understanding and explanation. He held

that they are not causally related, but that they follow the same path

which has been previously arranged by God. Leibniz's theory is known as pre-established harmony.

The

doctrine of preestablished

harmony.

According to this doctrine although the mind and the body do not causally interact, God has made them coordinate perfectly, so that both act as they would act if they causally interacted. Thus the harmony that obtains between mind and body has been previously established by God

No state of a created substance has as a

real cause some state of another created substance

Every non-initial, non-miraculous, state

of a created substance has as a real cause some previous state of that very

substance

Each created substance is programmed at

creation such that all its natural states and actions are carried out in

conformity with all the natural states and actions of every other created

substance.

Suppose

someone falls over and hurts themselves body -> causation

The experienced pain is not caused by the

fall but by some prior mental state that conforms with the physical event

Suppose

someone decides they want a drink and pour themselves a glass of wine

The movement of the arm and hand is not

caused by the desire but that by some prior bodily state.

Although for Leibniz no created substance acts upon another, there are passages where Leibniz speaks of a substance acting upon another.

In Discourse on Metaphysics §15 Leibniz: says that we must reconcile the language of metaphysics with practice: Basically he says that we say that a substance A acts upon a substance B when A expresses what happens in B more clearly than B expresses what happens in A.

Here expression is a non-causal relation of correspondence or correlation.

Problems with materialism

1. limitation: Nobody has a convincing idea of how the human mind can be a by-product of the biological processes in the brain.

Proponents of materialism have the firm belief that in the end the human mind will be of the same order as phlogiston and the vital force.

According to materialism experiences completely depend on the way in which they have been realized in specific brain at specific time.

If two different people experience the same event, but use different physiological changes to encode it, then these encoding are incompatible.

Same is true when a person experiences a similar event twice.

Given the complexity of human brain it is next to impossible for these experiences to be encoded in the exactly same way. As a result, the encoding will be incompatible and cannot be matched to each other in a materialist model: Problem of the identity theory.

Materialism was strong in the middle of the 20th century.

Development of real robots, computers was a major turning point for philosophy of science.

There was an opportunity to compare humans with real information devises.

Thomas Hobbes (1588 - 1679)

•

Hobbes

main concern is the problem of social and political order: how can human beings

live together in peace and avoid the danger and fear of conflict?

•

We

should give our obedience to an unaccountable sovereign (authority)

•

The

alternative is a situation of universal insecurity, where all have reason to

fear violent death.

•

His

conclusions follow from his ideas about human nature, knowledge and how the

world works.

•

These

ideas were strongly influenced by his view that ‘Geometry is the only Science that it hath

please God hitherto to bestow on mankind’ (cited by Smith 1997)

•

Although

he followed in the tradition of William of Occam and Francis Bacon, he is

sometimes also referred to as the found of British empiricism.

•

Hobbes became serious with philosophy when he

came across Euclid’s Elements.

•

Convinced him that humans could be understood

using the techniques of geometry

•

He became convinced that the universe consisted

only of matter and motion and that both could be understood in terms of

mechanistic principles.

•

Hobbes applied deductive method of geometry:

Humans were machines.

•

Humans were viewed as machines functioning within

a larger machine (Universe)

•

Hobbes chose the deductive method of Descartes.

Hobbesian Laws

•

The first law of human nature

•

Appetites are insatiable

•

These appetites motivate us to action

through seeking pleasure and avoiding pain

•

The second law of human nature

•

Reason enables us to avoid pain and

seek pleasure thereby maintaining well-being

•

Hobbes first law of human nature is

that appetites are insatiable, while the

second is that reason enables individuals to avoid death and seek peaceful

living.

•

From his hedonistic standpoint, humans

avoid painful experiences and seek pleasurable ones.

•

He understands appetite as complexly

caused by familial, educational, cultural, or political sources (Frost, 2008)

•

Passions are pivotal in Hobbesian

psychology in that they motivate individuals to action.

•

Passion result from two basic motions

from the sense to the brain and from there to the heart.

• Facilitation motion, experience as

pleasure and inhibitory motion experienced as pain.

•

According to Hobbes, two mutually

influencing passions comprise conatus, which drives all human actions (Herbert,

1989): Desire (Appetite), which represented endeavor toward objects either

present or absent, and fear (Aversion) which represented endeavor from.

•

Specific psychological functions e.g.

sensing, imagining, remembering etc. proceed from and mediate these passions.

•

Passions are distinct from rational

desires that sustain individuals.

Social Relations

•

In leviathan (1651) Hobbes discussed the

complexities of human nature that a sovereign ruler or government must consider

to rule effectively

•

A common interpretation is that he justified

monarchy.

•

A different interpretation is that Hobbes

believed humans are not naturally sociable, yet we are social animals in that

we satisfy our need interdependently.

•

Education works to contain radical individualism

and resolve the tension between individuals and society whilst actualizing

justice and charity enables less harmony.

•

Sociability is a product of a rational social

order designed to neutralize three motives that cause social conflict (Herbert,

1989)

1.

Competition: Desire for personal gain

2.

Diffidence: Fear for safety

3.

Glory: Desire for reputation

•

Hobbes argued that individuals distrust everyone

else’s disposition yet we desire respect.

•

Fear sustains hope for social contract in which

we of our self-interest consent to supreme authority governing peace.

•

“The pursuit of peace” is humans “primary

commitment” (Frost, 2008)

•

Pursuit stems from an interest in survival, not

in a commitment to divine law

•

Altruism is an expression of self-preservation.

•

Consequently free will and universal moral

truths are illusions

Combining Materialism and the Rightness of Language

• Hobbes believed that once people used Language ‘rightly’ then the kinds of

deductions that can be made in geometry can also be made about humans.

• E.g. ‘substance’ means ‘material substance’ and not some metaphysical, meaningless statement

about the mind and mental states.

• His view of language was an extreme nominalism wherein

universals are no more that convenient names for remembered sense experiences.

Benedict De Spinoza (1632 – 1677)

• Spinoza was an excommunicated Jew reviled by both Jews

and Christians alike.

• Much of his work was suppressed and/or destroyed as it

caused such offence.

• Like Hobbes, Spinoza was a substance monist.

•

However, his preferred

substance was ‘God’

• Spinoza's phrase 'Deus sive Natura’ (‘God or Nature’) captures this relationship.

• He was also a Determinist

• “In nature there is nothing contingent, but all things

have been determined from the necessity of the divine nature to exist and

produce an effect in a certain way”

•

Free will and social relations

• For Spinoza the most important mistaken belief that we

have about ourselves is that of free will.

•

“Men believe themselves

to be free because they are conscious of their own actions and are ignorant of

the causes by which they are determined" (IIIP2S)

• To

posit a faculty of will by which is autonomous and independent of external

causal determinants is to remove it from nature which would be ridiculous

• However,

by living according to our reason our inclination to facilitate cooperation and

our desire for social harmony will be expressed in the social world in which we

exist.