PHILOSOPHICAL ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY

How we behave and why we behave so are questions that have aroused curiosity from time immemorial. In the earliest period of the history of psychology, they were answered quite unscientifically, merely on the basis of superstitions and speculations as follows:

It was believed that a person’s behaviour was the result of his fate which was bound to be influenced by the movements of the planet. In case we know the position of planets at any particular moment, we could tell and predict the behaviour of the person by evaluating his horoscope. Besides the role of planets, demons, spirits, ghosts and other supernatural forces were also held responsible for varying human actions. In this way, the cause and forms of human behaviour were being located in something outside the human being.

The Greek philosophers are credited to look inside the human beings for clues to behaviour. Socrates believed that inquiry into the nature of the cosmos is futile. As a result, he tried to adopt a question answer method of peeping into the nature of man. Plato drew a sharp distinction between mind and body, assigning the former by far the key role for generating behaviour. Aristotle’s concept of the soul proved a corner stone in Psychology for centuries. He viewed the ‘soul’ or the ‘psyche’ meaning ‘life’ and considered the mind as a living moving phenomenon that directs the activities of the body. However, he considered mind and body as united and thus brought Psychology into the realm of Biology.

Roman Stoics and Epicureans contributed to the development of Psychology in ways that paralleled the fate of natural sciences in Rome. Both these philosophies were limited in scope and were expressed mainly in Roman religious practices. They did not follow the Greek attempts to devise a comprehensive system of human knowledge. Rather, they formulated somewhat general attitudes towards life. However, the psychological implications of these views were limited.

In the discussion regarding the philosophical origins, the thoughts formulated in India cannot be kept isolated. Much of the knowledge of ancient India comes from the Vedas, the Book of Knowledge. The Vedas are a collection of lessons, hymns, poetry and prose that were compiled from oral recitations. The Hindu philosophies have important implications regarding psychology. According to the Hindu philosophy, the individual is characteristically a part of a greater and more desirable unity. Individual growth is away from individuality and toward an emergence into the bliss of universal knowledge. This assertion of individuality is seen not as meaningful in itself, but rather as an activity to be minimized and avoided. Sensory and mental events are unreliable. Truth lies in transcending sensory and mental activities and voiding consciousness. In short, the integrity of the individual person is questionable, because the individual occupies an insignificant place relative to the entire, harmonious complexity that is the cosmos. The Hindu philosophy seems to have an extreme coincidence with the humanistic view and the centrality of the individual self, which has been expressed in the west recently.

Buddhist philosophy is another deeply influenced one, which became very popular in China, Japan and South-East Asia, but founded by the Indian Philosopher and Teacher, Siddhartha or Gouthama Buddha (563-483 BC). Buddha’s preaching sounds almost behaviouristic and materialistic. It guided the followers to strive, through ascetic self-discipline and careful training, to attain the happiness of annihilating individual consciousness. Again the importance is given to move beyond individuality, as it is in the Hindu philosophy.