Philosopher's Contributions in the History of Psychology

Philosopher's Contributions in the History of Psychology

Historically, psychology is not a very old discipline and can be traced back to the 19th century but its foundations lied in the times when philosophy was the main school of thought. Men such as Socrates and Plato wanted to understand the mind of humans in a better manner but did not have the scientific evidence that the psychologists of today are equipped with. Hence for understanding the history of psychology it is essential to know about how philosophers have contributed over the years in the beginning of psychology as a formal discipline. The paper thus discusses the roots of psychology in early philosophy that led to development of modern psychology or the formation of psychology as a discipline in the 19th century.

Philosophers related to the beginning of psychology

There are many philosophers that can be related to the development of psychology as a formal discipline. Rene Descartes can be regarded as one of the earliest philosophers to bridge the gap between psychology and philosophy, with his arguments concerning mind-body. In the last years of the 19th century Wilhelm Wundt was a major philosopher in the western tradition who contributed significantly to the beginning of psychology as a formal discipline and is considered by some as the founder of the modern psychology. His influence on psychology was of a great deal with the structuralist views of how psychology is human experiences that come from the experiences one has. In other words, he was of the view that the mind and behavior of a person require to be scientifically analyzed and that mind and body were separate, without any interaction. Wundt wrote books such as the Principles of Physiological Psychology that helped in enabling the establishment of experimental procedures of ...