Question

• How philosophy and physiology have influenced early psychological thought and how that applies to psychology today.
• Discuss the major contributions of one philosopher and outline his or her major contributions to the field.
• Discuss the major contributions of one physiologist and outline his or her major contributions to the field.
• Discuss how philosophy and physiology have influenced psychology.

Answer 1

Psychology emerged as a result of developments in philosophy, especially Empiricism. Empirically oriented philosophers and the philosophically oriented empiricists focused on how the mind and body influenced one another and how can we study mind by analysing the body (which is an important concern in psychology).

Psychology has borrowed many important concepts (like determinism, pschye, dualism) from philosophy; the concepts that helped it to emerge as a separate discipline. In the theory of determinism, every action and decision of a man is determined by his past. This idea of determinism contributed to the theory of psychoanalysis by Frued who also argued that early childhood experiences influence man's present and future.
French philosopher Rene Descartes gave the thesis of dualism in which he argued that mind (thinking thing) and body (non-thinking thing) are distinct and can exist without each other ; however they interact to form the human experience. This thesis has been debated by numerous psychologists. Descartes contributions in philosophy have had a significant impact on modern psychology. The controversy in psychology over nature versus nurture has it's traces in early philosophical traditions (including Descartes theory).
German philosopher Weber (through his law of relation between stimulus and perception) made it clear that analyzing behaviour could help us analyze mind, and hence paving the way for experimental psychology.

But the most important contribution towards the field of psychology can be credited to Greek philosopher Aristotle. Aristotles philosophy of mind and reasoning contributed immensely to the history of psychology. He was one of the pioneers to develop the theory of proto-psychology. Aristotle wrote the first known text in the history of psychology, called Para Psyche (about the mind) in which he focused on the study of reasoning that influenced the direction of the history of psychology. Aristotle became the first philosopher to examine the urges and impulse that drive an defined life, believing that the libido and urge to reproduce was the most dominant impulse of all living beings.

However the birth date of experimental psychology can be traced back to the time when both Wundt (professor of physiology) and James established labs (dedicated to experimental psychology). Wundt became the founder of the Introspectionist ‘Structuralist‘ approach to psychology. Early physiological research on the brain and behavior immensely influenced psychology, and also contributed towards the application of scientific methodologies to the study of human thought and behavior.
Physiology also played an important role in the emergence of psychology a separate scientific discipline.
William Wundt who is considered as father of experimental psychology was a physiologist by profession. He wrote first textbook on psychology "Principles of physiological psychology". He also contributed towards the separation of psychology from philosophy and biology. Wundt employed structuralist and experimental methods to study the underlying structures of thought. He also reflected on notions of sensation and perception like philosopher Weber. He used scientific method to study these notions.
He also introduced "introspection" as a research technique that involved careful and objective analyzing of the content or structure of thoughts.

Thus psychology can be seen as a combination of physiology (the study of functions within living system) and philosophy (theories behind human existence and experience).