human existence

Four aspects of human existence: The human being as an individual (individual existence)The individual in relation to other people (social existence)The individual in relation to his/her physical environment (physical existence)The individual in relation to a transcendent environment (transcendental existence).

Page:of 77 6Canbe traced back to Plato (427 –347 BC) and Aristotle (384 –322 BC), who laid down the basic principles of human behaviour, particularly with regard to the structure and functions of the soul or mind (psyche). According to Plato, the soul and the body are two separate entities and the evil body interferes with the functioning of the good soul. The soul consists of 3 elements: the rational, the spiritual, and the yearning aspect, which function independently of the body. Aristotle (a student of Plato) proposed the idea of a unity of body and soul. The soul is a manifestation of the body, just as a piece of furniture is a manifestation of wood. St Augustine (354 –430) and Thomas Aquinas (1225 –1274) tried to reconcile Plato’s psychology with Christian doctrines. During this phase, psychology was part of religious thinking, and thus of philosophy. Psychology as part of philosophy and of the natural sciences (1600 –1879): Age of Reason –knowledge ceased to be linked with religion and faith. The human being is the focal point.Two currents of epistemology came into being during the 16thand 17thcenturies: Empiricism and Rationalism. Empiricism: an approach to the philosophy of science that starts with the assumption that the only source of true knowledge is observation through sensory perception. Francis Bacon (1561 –1626) pointed out that knowledge had, to date, been gathered exclusively by means of the deductive method, which limits scientific endeavour. He believed that truly valid knowledge was attained chiefly through the inductive method. Bacon emphasised empirical observation (a systematic inductive method) as the starting point for any scientific investigation. Bacon started with the external world and maintained that knowledge of it is acquired by means of controlled observation. Rationalism: proposes that human reason is the only source of true knowledge. RenéDescartes (1596 –1650) started with the objective world. Subjective experience and conscious knowledge of oneself are the basis of all knowledge (I think, therefore I am). The existence of the external world cannot be proved. The existence of everything was open to doubt. Two levels of existence in the universe: Physical world: observable matter which can be explained and investigated in terms of mechanistic laws and which led to the development of the natural sciencesMental world: non-material, non-observable processes of consciousness that are characterised, in particular, by the human faculty of reasoning and which led to the development of the human sciences (Geisteswissenschaften). The mind is the non-material, non-physical entity which, Descartes says, is easier to investigate than the body because it can become known through self-reflection. The body is a physical, material entity common to both humans and animals, which responds to the external world according to mechanistic physiological principles. Descartes was the first modern thinker to demarcate and describe the object of psychology as the study of human mental processes. PSY CHO LO GY AS A S CIEN CE IN ITS O WN R IG HT
7Wundt’s work brought about the formal establishment of the science of psychology. The origin of psychology can be traced back conceptually to 2 fundamental starting points: The traditional foundation provided by Wundt and structuralism within a strong academic contextThe foundation laid by Freud and psychoanalysis within a practical medical context. Wundt and the foundation within the academic context: At the end of the previous century in, natural sciences flourished in Germany. Two psychological paradigms were developed: psychology as a natural science and psychology as a human science. Psychology as a natural science This paradigm arises from the work of Wilhelm Wundt. Structuralism: a scientific philosophical approach that aims to examine the constituent structural elements of phenomena –in this case, processes of consciousness. Structuralists define psychology as the analytical examination of human consciousness.Introspection: an experimental method of investigation specific to psychology developed by Wundt. It involves self-observation under controlled conditions. Experimental introspection: Experimentelle Selbstbeobachtung. Subjective inner observation: Innere Wahrnehmung.Purpose of introspection was to construct a ‘chemistry of consciousness’. Wundt’s work led to the development of functionalism (which concentrates on the functions and dynamics of psychological processes rather than on the study of non-observable structural elements) in America. This view eventually culminated in behaviourism. Structuralism also stimulated the development of the German psychology of thinking and of Gestalt psychology. Psychology as a human scienceFranz Brentano(1838 –1917) believed that psychology should be defined as the study of psychological processes which originate with the human will (intentionality). Brentano (founder of the phenomenological approach in psychology) adaptedthe descriptive qualitative method to the study of psychological phenomena.Brentano influenced the development of the Gestalt movement and the ‘Third Force’ (person-oriented approach in America and existentialist approach in Europe –reflects a human science orientation). Freud and the foundation within a practical medical context:Freud: medical doctor; interested in psychopathological manifestations; founder of the theory of human behaviour known as the psychoanalytical theory. Freud’s theory is founded on his own subjective observation of the behaviour of his patients. The impact of Freud’s work on the development of psychology as a discipline: The scope of the discipline was broadened. To the study of the processes of consciousness was added the examination of unconscious processes and phenomena.Freud’s work with neurotic patients resulted in psychopathology being gradually established as a sphere of interest for psychology.Ultimately this led to the development of clinical psychology as a field of specialisation within psychology. Freud’s views of human behaviour represent the first formal theory of the structure, dynamics and development of the personality. Freud may thus be regarded as the founder of personality psychology and, to some extent, of developmental psychology. Freud’s psychodynamic approach influenced Western thinking in general.