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Aristotle (384±322 BC) was born in Macedon, in what is now northern Greece, but spent most of his adult life in Athens. His life in Athens divides
into two periods, first as a member of Plato's Academy (367±347) and later as director of his own school, the Lyceum (334±323). The intervening
years were spent mainly in Assos and Lesbos, and briefly back in Macedon. His years away from Athens were predominantly taken up with
biological research and writing. Judged on the basis of their content, Aristotle's most important psychological writings probably belong to his second
residence in Athens, and so to his most mature period. His principal work in psychology, Œ
 , reflects in different ways his pervasive interest
in biological taxonomy and his most sophisticated physical and metaphysical theory.
Because of the long tradition of exposition which has developed around Aristotle's Œ
 , the interpretation of even its most central theses is
sometimes disputed. Moreover, because of its evident affinities with some prominent approaches in contemporary philosophy of mind, Aristotle's
psychology has received renewed interest and has incited intense interpretative dispute in recent decades. Consequently, this entry proceeds on two
levels. The main article recounts the principal and distinctive claims of Aristotle's psychology, avoiding so far as possible exegetical controversy and
critical commentary. At the end of appropriate sections of the main article, readers are invited to explore problematic or advanced features of
Aristotle's theories by following the appropriate links.
Introduction
Plato (429-347 B.C.E.) is arguably one of the most important educational theorists and curriculum developers in Western history. Moreover, his
contribution to the theory and practice of mathematics education has had a profound impact over the ages.
Plato¶s educational interests and accomplishments were clearly founded on mathematics education. The entrance to the Academy he established in
Athens (instituted from 387 B.C.E. to 526 A.C.E.), famously announced: ³let no one unversed in geometry enter here.´ In his classic tome, 
 ,
the mathematical sciences (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and harmonics) formed the foundation of Plato¶s curriculum. Enduring well into the
Middle Ages, these four disciplines comprised the     which coupled with the    (grammar, logic, and rhetoric), constitute the so-called
seven liberal arts.
Of more contemporary interest however, and my main purpose here, is to explicate Plato¶s model of mathematical cognition and learning.
Considering his mathematical curriculum in this light, Plato may readily be seen as having put theory into practice on a scale unprecedented, before
or since, in the history of mathematics education.

 


Overall, Plato¶s cognitive psychology appears more structural and descriptive in nature than developmental. He was, so it is said, more interested in
timeless entities and truths than he was in transient processes and beliefs. Interesting parallels emerge with modern psychology, as we shall see, when
considering the 
 component of Plato¶s archetypal model of cognition.
The heart of Plato¶s cognitive psychology is to be found in the 
  (1945/ca.366 B.C.E.) There, he offers a basic division of 
(and, by
analogy,   and ) into rational, spirited, and appetitive dispositions (ibid., 434d±441c). In addition to this tripartite division of interrelated
faculties, Plato¶s psychology is largely bound up with explicating three main similes, or allegories: 1) the , 507a±509b; 2) the Œ 
! 
,
509d±511d; and 3) the "
, 514a±517a. These similes are informative in and of themselves, but they also serve to inform each other in important
ways as well. Of course, scholars have interpreted these similes in many different ways. The following is offered from a perspective of research in
the psychology of mathematics education.

ü 
(469-399 B.C.E.)
In his use of critical reasoning, by his unwavering commitment to truth, and through the vivid example of his own life, fifth-century Athenian
Socrates set the standard for all subsequent Western philosophy. Since he left no literary legacy of his own, we are dependent upon contemporary
writers like Aristophanes and Xenophon for our information about his life and work. As a pupil of Archelaus during his youth, Socrates showed a
great deal of interest in the scientific theories of Anaxagoras, but he later abandoned inquiries into the physical world for a dedicated investigation of
the development of moral character. Having served with some distinction as a soldier at Delium and Amphipolis during the Peloponnesian War,
Socrates dabbled in the political turmoil that consumed Athens after the War, then retired from active life to work as a stonemason and to raise his
children with his wife, Xanthippe. After inheriting a modest fortune from his father, the sculptor Sophroniscus, Socrates used his marginal financial
independence as an opportunity to give full-time attention to inventing the practice of philosophical dialogue.
For the rest of his life, Socrates devoted himself to free-wheeling discussion with the aristocratic young citizens of Athens, insistently questioning
their unwarranted confidence in the truth of popular opinions, even though he often offered them no clear alternative teaching. Unlike the
professional Sophists of the time, Socrates pointedly declined to accept payment for his work with students, but despite (or, perhaps, because) of this
lofty disdain for material success, many of them were fanatically loyal to him. Their parents, however, were often displeased with his influence on
their offspring, and his earlier association with opponents of the democratic regime had already made him a controversial political figure. Although
the amnesty of 405 forestalled direct prosecution for his political activities, an Athenian jury found other charges²corrupting the youth and
interfering with the religion of the city²upon which to convict Socrates, and they sentenced him to death in 399 B.C.E. Accepting this outcome with
remarkable grace, Socrates drank hemlock and died in the company of his friends and disciples.
Our best sources of information about Socrates's philosophical views are the early dialogues of his student m, who attempted there to provide a
faithful picture of the methods and teachings of the master. (Although Socrates also appears as a character in the later dialogues of Plato, these
writings more often express philosophical positions Plato himself developed long after Socrates's death.) In the Socratic dialogues, his extended
conversations with students, statesmen, and friends invariably aim at understanding and achieving virtue {Gk. areth [
#]} through the careful
application of a dialectical method that employs critical inquiry to undermine the plausibility of widely-held doctrines. Destroying the illusion that
we already comprehend the world perfectly and honestly accepting the fact of our own ignorance, Socrates believed, are vital steps toward our
acquisition of genuine knowledge, by discovering universal definitions of the key concepts governing human life.
Interacting with an arrogantly confident young man in Euqufrwn ($  ), for example, Socrates systematically refutes the superficial notion of
piety (moral rectitude) as doing whatever is pleasing to the gods. Efforts to define morality by reference to any external authority, he argued,
inevitably founder in a significant logical dilemma about the origin of the good. Plato's Apologhma () is an account of Socrates's
(unsuccessful) speech in his own defense before the Athenian jury; it includes a detailed description of the motives and goals of philosophical activity
as he practiced it, together with a passionate declaration of its value for life. The Kritwn (" ) reports that during Socrates's imprisonment he
responded to friendly efforts to secure his escape by seriously debating whether or not it would be right for him to do so. He concludes to the contrary
that an individual citizen²even when the victim of unjust treatment²can never be justified in refusing to obey the laws of the state.
The Socrates of the Menwn (
) tries to determine whether or not virtue can be taught, and this naturally leads to a careful investigation of the
nature of virtue itself. Although his direct answer is that virtue is unteachable, Socrates does propose the doctrine of recollection to explain why we
nevertheless are in possession of significant knowledge about such matters. Most remarkably, Socrates argues here that knowledge and virtue are so
closely related that no human agent ever knowingly does evil: we all invariably do what we believe to be best. Improper conduct, then, can only be a
product of our ignorance rather than a symptom of weakness of the will {Gk. akrasia [%& ]}. The same view is also defended in the PrwtagoraV
(m), along with the belief that all of the virtues must be cultivated together.


  

 

Erikson recognized the basic notions of Freudian theory, but believed that Freud misjudged some important dimensions of human development.
Erikson said that humans develop throughout their life span, while Freud said that our personality is shaped by the age of five. Erikson developed
eight psychosocial stages that humans encounter throughout their life. The stages are Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, Initiative vs.
Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair.

The first stage, Trust vs. Mistrust, occurs from approximately birth to one year. Erikson defined trust as an essential trustfulness of others as well as a
fundamental sense of one's own trustworthiness. He thought that an infant who gets fed when he is hungry and comforted when he needs comforting
will develop trust. He also said that some mistrust is necessary to learn to discriminate between honest and dishonest persons. If mistrust wins over
trust in this stage, the child will be frustrated, withdrawn, suspicious, and will lack self-confidence.

The second stage, Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, occurs between ages two and three. During this period it is important that the parents create a
supportive atmosphere in which the child can develop a sense of self-control without a loss of self-esteem. Shame and doubt about the child's self-
control and independence occur if basic trust was insufficiently developed or was lost such as when the child's will is broken by an over controlling
parent. In this stage, Erikson said the child encounters rules, such as which areas of the house he is allowed to explore.

The third stage, Initiative vs. Guilt, occurs between ages four and five. This is the stage in which the child must find out what kind of person he/she is
going to be. The child develops a sense of responsibility which increases initiative during this period. If the child is irresponsible and is made to feel
too anxious then they will have uncomfortable guilt feelings. Erikson believed that most guilt is quickly compensated for by a sense of
accomplishment.

Erikson's fourth stage, Industry vs. Inferiority, occurs between six years and puberty. This is the period in which the child wants to enter the larger
world of knowledge and work. One of the great events of this time is the child's entry into school. This is where he is exposed to the technology of
his society: books, multiplication tables, arts and crafts, maps, microscopes, films, and tape recorders. However, the learning process does not only
occur in the classroom according to Erikson, but also at home, friend's houses, and on the street. Erikson said that successful experiences give the
child a sense of industry, a feeling of competence and mastery, while failure gives them a sense of inadequacy and inferiority, a feeling that one is a
good-for-nothing.

Components of Erikson's prior four stages contribute to the fifth stage, Identity vs. Identity Confusion. This occurs during adolescence. During this
period the identity concern reaches climax. According to Erikson this is the time when adolescents seek their true selves.

Erikson's sixth stage, Intimacy vs. Isolation, occurs during young adulthood. Intimacy with other people is possible only if a reasonably well
integrated identity emerges from stage five. The main concern of Erikson's seventh stage, Generativity vs. Stagnation, is to assist the younger
generation in developing and leading useful lives. When the individual feels that he has done nothing to help the next generation then they experience
stagnation. The final stage, Integrity vs. Despair, occurs during late adulthood. This is the time in which the individual looks back and evaluates their
life. If the previous stages have developed properly then they will experience integrity. If the previous stages have not developed in a positive way
then they will feel despair.

Erikson believed that development is primarily qualitative because changes are stage like, but also quantitative as one's identity becomes stronger and
one's convictions solidify. He believed that nature determines the sequence of the stages and sets the limits within which nurture operates. However,
all must pass through one stage before entering the next in the stated order.

    ü (March 20, 1904 ± August 18, 1990)

 

Radical behaviorism seeks to understand behavior as a function of environmental histories of reinforcing consequences.
Reinforcement processes were emphasized by Skinner, and were seen as primary in the shaping of behavior. A common misconception is that
negative reinforcement is synonymous with punishment. This misconception is rather pervasive, and is commonly found in even scholarly accounts
of Skinner and his contributions. To be clear, while positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the application of some event (e.g.,
praise after some behavior is performed), negative reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event
(e.g., opening and raising an umbrella over your head on a rainy day is reinforced by the cessation of rain falling on you).
Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of a behavior reoccurring; the difference is in whether the reinforcing
event is something applied (positive reinforcement) or something removed or avoided (negative reinforcement). Punishment and extinction have the
effect of weakening behavior, or decreasing the future probability of a behavior's occurrence, by the application of an aversive stimulus/event
(positive punishment or punishment by contingent stimulation), removal of a desirable stimulus (negative punishment or punishment by contingent
withdrawal), or the absence of a rewarding stimulus, which causes the behavior to stop (extinction).
Skinner also sought to understand the application of his theory in the broadest behavioural context as it applies to living organisms, namely natural
selection.[14]


was born in Burlington, Vermont of modest family origins.[4] Like his older brother, Davis Rich Dewey, he attended the University of
Vermont, from which he graduated (Phi Beta Kappa)[5] in 1879. After two years as a high school teacher in Oil City, Pennsylvania and one teaching
elementary school in a small town in Vermont, Dewey decided that he was unsuited for employment in primary or secondary education. After
studying with George Sylvester Morris, Charles Sanders Peirce, Herbert Baxter Adams, and G. Stanley Hall, Dewey received his Ph.D. from the
School of Arts & Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. In 1884, he accepted a faculty position at the University of Michigan (1884±1888 and 1889±
1894) with the help of George Sylvester Morris. His unpublished and now lost dissertation was titled "The Psychology of Kant".
In 1894 Dewey joined the newly founded University of Chicago (1894±1904) where he developed his belief in an empirically based theory of
knowledge, becoming associated with the newly emerging Pragmatic philosophy. His time at the University of Chicago resulted in four essays
collectively entitled     '
(
 which was published with collected works from his colleagues at Chicago under the collective
title 
 ! 
 (1903). During this time Dewey also initiated the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools where he was able to
actualize his pedagogical beliefs which provided material for his first major work on education,
     m
 (1899).
Disagreements with the administration ultimately caused his resignation from the University, and soon thereafter he relocated near the East Coast. In
1899, John Dewey was elected president of the American Psychological Association. From 1904 until his retirement in 1930 he was professor of
philosophy at both Columbia University and Columbia University's Teachers College.[6] In 1905 he became president of the American Philosophical
Association. He was a long-time member of the American Federation of Teachers.
Along with the historian Charles Beard, economists Thorstein Veblen and James Harvey Robinson, Dewey is one of the founders of The New
School. Dewey's most significant writings were "The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology" (1896), a critique of a standard psychological concept and
the basis of all his further work; Œ
 $   (1916), his celebrated work on progressive education; )*
 " 
(1922), a study of the function of habit in human behavior;
m   m
 (1927), a defense of democracy written in response to Walter
Lippmann's
m m  (1925); $+


 *
(1925), Dewey's most "metaphysical" statement; $+


(1934), Dewey's
major work on aesthetics; "  (1934), a humanistic study of religion, which was originally delivered as the Dwight H. Terry
Lectureship at Yale; ! ,

-.  (1938), an examination of Dewey's unusual conception of logic; 

 "
(1939), a
political work examining the roots of fascism; and /0  
/0 (1949), a book written in conjunction with Arthur F. Bentley that
systematically outlines the concept of trans-action which is central to his other works. While each of these works focuses on one particular
philosophical theme, Dewey included his major themes in most of what he published. He published more than 700 articles in 140 journals, and
approximately 40 books.
Dewey married twice, first with Alice Chipman. They had six children.[7] His second wife was Roberta Lowitz Grant.[8]
The United States Postal Service honored Dewey with a Prominent Americans series (1965±1978) 30¢ postage stamp.

±±   ±±
Although Dewey referred to his philosophy as "[[instrumentalism]]" rather than [[pragmatism]], he was one of the three major figures in American
pragmatism, along with [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], who invented the term, and [[William James]], who popularized it. Dewey worked from strongly
[[Hegel]]ian influences, unlike James, whose intellectual lineage was primarily [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|British]],
drawing particularly on [[Empiricism|empiricist]] and [[Utilitarianism|utilitarian]] ideas.<ref>Good (2006). ''A Search for Unity in Diversity: The
"Permanent Hegelian Deposit" in the Philosophy of John Dewey.'' Lexington Books.</ref> Neither was Dewey so [[Value pluralism|pluralist]] or
[[Relativism|relativist]] as James. He stated that [[Value (personal and cultural)|value]] was a function not of whim nor purely of social construction,
but a quality situated in events ("nature itself is wistful and pathetic, turbulent and passionate" (''Experience and Nature'')).

James also stated that [[experiment]]ation (social, cultural, technological, philosophical) could be used as an approximate arbiter of [[truth]]. For
example he felt that, for many people who lacked "[[overbelief|over-belief]]" of [[religion|religious]] concepts, human life was superficial and rather
uninteresting, and that while no one religious belief could be demonstrated as the correct one, we are all responsible for making a gamble on one or
another [[theism]], [[atheism]], [[monism]], etc. Dewey, in contrast, while honoring the important function that religious institutions and practices
played in human life, rejected [[belief]] in any static ideal, such as a personal [[God]]. Dewey felt that only scientific method could reliably increase
human good.

As with the reemergence of progressive philosophy of education, Dewey's contributions to philosophy as such (he was, after all, much more a
professional philosopher than an educator) have also reemerged with the reassessment of pragmatism, beginning in the late 1970s, by philosophers
like [[Richard Rorty]], [[Richard J. Bernstein]] and [[Hans Joas]].

Because of his process-oriented and sociologically conscious opinion of the world and [[knowledge]], his ideology is considered sometimes as a
useful alternative to both [[modernism|modern]] and [[postmodern]] ideology. Dewey's non-[[foundationalism|foundational]] method pre-dates
postmodernism by more than half a century. Recent exponents (like Rorty) have not always remained faithful to Dewey's original ideas, though this
itself is completely consistent with Dewey's own usage of other writers and with his own philosophy&mdash; for Dewey, past doctrines always
require reconstruction in order to remain useful for the present time.

Dewey's philosophy has had other names than "pragmatism". He has been called an instrumentalist, an [[experimentalist]], an [[empiricist]], a
[[Functional psychology|functionalist]], and a [[naturalism (philosophy)|naturalist]]. The term "transactional" may better describe his views, a term
emphasized by Dewey in his later years to describe his theories of knowledge and experience



 
  
Main article: The Critique of Pure Reason
Kant defines his theory of perception in his influential 1781 work
"  
-m

, which has often been cited as the most significant
volume of metaphysics and epistemology in modern philosophy. Kant maintains that our understanding of the external world had its foundations not
merely in experience, but in both experience and a priori concepts, thus offering a !   "   
, which is what
he and others referred to as his "Copernican revolution".[26]
Firstly, Kant's distinction between analytic and synthetic propositions:
Analytic proposition: a proposition whose predicate concept is contained in its subject concept;
112


22

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12
Synthetic proposition: a proposition whose predicate concept is not contained in its subject concept ;
112

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 12
Analytic propositions are true by nature of the meaning of the words involved in the sentence²we require no further knowledge than a grasp of the
language to understand this proposition. On the other hand, synthetic statements are those that tell us something about the world. The truth or
falsehood of synthetic statements derives from something outside of their linguistic content. In this instance, weight is not a necessary predicate of
the body; until we are told the heaviness of the body we do not know that it has weight. In this case, experience of the body is required before its
heaviness becomes clear. Before Kant's first Critique, empiricists (cf. Hume) and rationalists (cf. Leibniz) assumed that all synthetic statements
required experience in order to be known.
For more details on this topic, see Analytic-synthetic distinction.
Kant, however, contests this: he claims that elementary mathematics, like arithmetic, is synthetic   , in that its statements provide new
knowledge, but knowledge that is not derived from experience. This becomes part of his over-all argument for transcendental idealism. That is, he
argues that the possibility of experience depends on certain necessary conditions²which he calls   forms²and that these conditions structure
and hold true of the world of experience. In so doing, his main claims in the "Transcendental Aesthetic" are that mathematic judgments are synthetic
  and in addition, that Space and Time are not derived from experience but rather are its preconditions.
For more details on this topic, see A priori and a posteriori (philosophy).
Once we have grasped the concepts of addition, subtraction or the functions of basic arithmetic, we do not need any empirical experience to know
that 100 + 100 = 200, and in this way it would appear that arithmetic is in fact analytic. However, that it is analytic can be disproved thus: if the
numbers five and seven in the calculation 5 + 7 = 12 are examined, there is nothing to be found in them by which the number 12 can be inferred.
Such it is that "5 + 7" and "the cube root of 1,728" or "12" are not analytic because their reference is the same but their sense is not²that the
mathematic judgment "5 + 7 = 12" tells us something new about the world. It is self-evident, and undeniably a priori, but at the same time it is
synthetic. And so Kant proves a proposition can be synthetic and known a priori.
For more details on this topic, see Sense and Reference.
Kant asserts that experience is based both upon the perception of external objects and a priori knowledge.[27] The external world, he writes, provides
those things which we sense. It is our mind, though, that processes this information about the world and gives it order, allowing us to comprehend it.
Our mind supplies the conditions of space and time to experience objects. According to the "transcendental unity of apperception", the concepts of
the mind (Understanding) and the perceptions or intuitions that garner information from phenomena (Sensibility) are synthesized by comprehension.
Without the concepts, intuitions are nondescript; without the intuitions, concepts are meaningless²thus the famous quotation, "Thoughts without
content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind."[28]

# $ 
Locke¶s most famous and important work is arguably $"
 )3
 , published in 1690. This work relayed his
philosophical and scientific views of the mind. Locke¶s notion of empiricism is in full force in this work. He believed the mind was formed by
experiences, not innate ideas as some held. $"
 )3
  contained the concepts central to his viewpoint, such as the
view of the mind, simple and complex ideas and their association, primary and secondary qualities, and others. The tabula rasa view of
the mind posited that the mind contains innate capacities for certain activities, but the rest of the knowledge comes from experience with the world.
This work discussed how knowledge in the mind is formed, and also the types of knowledge humans can have about things in the world.
The refutation of innate ideas stands in opposition to the views of Descartes, whose ideas were still held during Locke¶s time. The ideas in $
"
 )3
  helped influence later psychological movements, most notably behaviorism. Although the ideas were modified
somewhat and the focus was changed, the underlying idea that experience of some kind shapes the mind was still in the spirit of Locke.
0 
 
-4

, published in 1689, reflected Locke¶s roots in politics. Locke¶s time was one of a chaotic political climate. In this
book, he outlines a view that asserts the need for governmental checks and a humanitarian focus. An idea carried over from $"
 
)3
  regarding the subjectivity of a person¶s experience was also an underlying factor in this book. Because the experience of any
one person is not a complete record of the truth, many must be active in the governmental process to ensure that the government is working for all.
The ideas in this book influenced the Founding Fathers of America when drafting the Constitution.

$  % 


John Locke was considered one of the most influential philosophers in post-renaissance Europe, which was about the mid 1600s. One of his
major contributions was to the field of psychology and he is often called the ³Father of English Psychology.´ Locke has been recognized for several
important documents that have influenced the beginnings of modern psychology. One of his most important works written in 1690 was entitled, 
$"
 )3
 . The work was considered a foundational text in Western philosophy and brought up the model of how
people developed. The essay also asked the question of how and why people become individuals. In the essay, Locke proposes that we are all born
with certain knowledge and principles that helps us to become part of society. The theory known as %&meaning white sheets helps explain
development. He states that it is through experience, of the world around us, this is how one forms ideas. He further states that human knowledge is
gathered in 2 distinct ways through sensation and reflection. These are further broken down into primary and secondary qualities of senses. With the
basic idea he suggested that out of the 2 sources of human knowledge one starts out with simple ideas that are used to form complex ideas, which are
formed through communication between individuals.
It is clear to see that Locke¶s ideas on the idea of how individuals develop is the starting point to many theorists in modern psychology and
specifically developmental psychology. He was poised with the question of what is the ultimate significance of life and how does one develop the
tools to proceed through life. His ultimate suggestion was that we are all born with the building blocks to become who we are. An in turn, as we go
through life and experience what it has to offer, we form the necessary tools to survive and become individuals.

ü' 



By profession, Thomas was a theologian rather than a philosopher. Indeed he nowhere characterizes himself as a philosopher, and the references to
philosophers found in his own work refer to pagans rather than Christians.[50] He was, nonetheless, a masterfully skilled philosopher.[51] Much of his
work bears upon philosophical topics, and in this sense may be characterized as philosophical. Thomas's philosophical thought has exerted enormous
influence on subsequent Christian theology, especially that of the Roman Catholic Church, extending to Western philosophy in general. Thomas
stands as a vehicle and modifier of Aristotelianism, Augustinian Neoplatonism and Proclean Neoplatonism.


Thomas believed "that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act."[52]
However, he believed that human beings have the natural capacity to know many things without special divine revelation, even though such
revelation occurs from time to time, "especially in regard to [topics of] a faith."[53]

( % ü 
m  
-m 
The Principles of Psychology is a monumental text in the history of psychology, written by William James and published in 1890.

There were four methods in James' psychology: analysis (i.e. the logical criticism of precursor and contemporary views of the mind), introspection
(i.e. the psychologist's study of his own states of mind), experiment (e.g. in hypnosis or neurology), and comparison (the use of statistical means to
distinguish norms from anomalies).

Analytical arguments of the Principles

There were five chief targets of the critical/analytical arguments of the volume: innatism (typified by Immanuel Kant); associationism (by Jeremy
Bentham); materialism (by Herbert Spencer); spiritualism (by scholastic theology); and metaphysical idealism (by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel).

The perception of time was a very hotly contested field in the psychology of James' day, and gave him an opportunity to explain the difficulty with
innatism, which posits time as an infinite necessary continuum. This is a view that leads to unnecessary paradoxes and defies experience. What we
experience, rather, are immediate memories and expectations, in a "specious present" of a few second's duration, and all longer spans of time are
extrapolations from that.

But just as innatism gives the mind too much credit for time and space, associationism gives it too little credit for art and creativity in general. It
treats ideas as bumping into each other and forming broader patterns, even in the end novels and architectural blueprints, in much the same way that
atoms bump into one another to form molecules. In this way, it bans the fact of intellectual power.

In James' day, the salient effort to give a thoroughly materialistic account of mind was that of Herbert Spencer. James demonstrates the great
confusion inherent in this account. On the one hand, Spencer denied that material facts can ever give rise to feelings, in statements that would seem to
commit him to dualism. "Can the oscillations of a molecule," Spencer asked rhetorically, "be represented side by side with a nervous shock, and the
two be recognized as one? No effort enables us to assimilate them."

But then Spencer proceeded to attempt to assimilate the two. Later, looking back on his discussion of the point, Spencer wrote how "in tracing up the
increase we found ourselves passing without break from the phenomena of bodily life to the phenomena of mental life." The way in which Spencer
got from the former declaration to the latter involved what James called the mind-dust theory, and the self-compounding of mental facts, reducible to
(and subject to the same objections as) associationism.

Scholasticism is "popular philosophy made systematic." In psychology, it is the theory that mental events are to be attributed to a special intangible
substance known as the soul. James conceded that it might be accurate, but said that "it is at all events needless for expressing the actual and
subjective phenomena of consciousness as they appear." The phenomena can be expressed more economically with the "supposition of a stream of
thoughts" each cognitive of its precursors and claiming them as its own.

The first fruit of his friendship with Evans and Lewes was Spencer's second book, Principles of Psychology, published in 1855, which explored a
physiological basis for psychology. The book was founded on the fundamental assumption that the human mind was subject to natural laws and that
these could be discovered within the framework of general biology. This permitted the adoption of a developmental perspective not merely in terms
of the individual (as in traditional psychology), but also of the species and the race. Through this paradigm, Spencer aimed to reconcile the
associationist psychology of Mill¶s Logic, the notion that human mind was constructed from atomic sensations held together by the laws of the
association of ideas, with the apparently more 'scientific' theory of phrenology, which located specific mental functions in specific parts of the brain.

Spencer argued that both these theories were partial accounts of the truth: repeated associations of ideas were embodied in the formation of specific
strands of brain tissue, and these could be passed from one generation to the next by means of the Lamarckian mechanism of use-inheritance. The
Psychology, he modestly believed, would do for the human mind what Isaac Newton had done for matter.[6] However, the book was not initially
successful and the last of the 251 copies of its first edition was not sold until June 1861.

Spencer's interest in psychology derived from a more fundamental concern which was to establish the universality of natural law.[7] In common with
others of his generation, including the members of Chapman's salon, he was possessed with the idea of demonstrating that it was possible to show
that everything in the universe²including human culture, language, and morality²could be explained by laws of universal validity. This was in
contrast to the views of many theologians of the time who insisted that some parts of creation, in particular the human soul, were beyond the realm of
scientific investigation. Comte's Systeme de Philosophie Positive had been written with the ambition of demonstrating the universality of natural law,
and Spencer was to follow Comte in the scale of his ambition. However, Spencer differed from Comte in believing it was possible to discover a
single law of universal application which he identified with progressive development and was to call the principle of evolution.
m  
ü 

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