Rene Descartes and Psychology

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Rene Descartes, a 17th century Renaissance philosopher and scientist, was considered a rationalist. The author points out that he derived scientific methods using specific rules about the study of knowledge instead of trusting human senses as being capable of determining truth alone. The paper contends that, although Descartes is credited as being the father of psychology among many other sciences, he would not have viewed psychology as a true science because of its reliance on human senses for observation and its attempts to study the mind, an object that is not tangible according to Descartes.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Descartes History
Descartes' Beliefs
Descartes' Education
Descartes' View on Science and Psychology
Descartes' Methods of Science
Descartes and Psychology
Psychology is not a Science for Descartes

From the Paper:

"It is easy to see how Descartes methods apply well to sciences such as Physics or Chemistry, but it is much more difficult to apply such methods to the science of Psychology. Descartes believed in the separation of the mind from the body, and he believed that the possession of a mind is what set humans apart from all other animals. It is his work on the mind and the central nervous system that usually gives him credit as being the father of Psychology, but Psychology is the study of the mind and of behaviour, and Descartes would not agree with the former."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes, Cress trans., Hackett, 1993, 3rd Edition

More papers on Rene Descartes and Psychology:

• Essay # 15964 : "Descartes on Psychology"
• Essay # 8284 : "Scientific Method and the Earthworm"
• Book Review # 9461 : "Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy" by Rene Descartes"

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