In this article, I will discuss the greek period of psychology in the history of psychology. Psychology originated centuries before today. Psychology did not accidentally acquire the status of science, but existed as a branch of philosophy centuries before Jesus.
The gradual and evolutionary development of psychology is as ancient and
comprehensive as any other scientific science.
Table of Contents
Ancient Greek Period in History of Psychology
It
is very difficult to explain in the record why psychology originated first. The
Greek record in this regard is Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus. This Greek text dates back
to 3,000 BC, describing traumatic brain injury and character, and states that
the brain controls all bodily movements.
Era Before Christ or Ancient Greek Period in History of Psychology
During
this period not only philosophy, logic, astronomy, chemistry, physics,
arithmetic and other fine arts developed but he also played an important role
in the development of psychology.
This period began with the Greek thinkers and
ended in the Middle Ages. During these 2,000 years, psychology has been
studied as a soul, and attempts have been made to understand the relationship
of the soul to the body.
In fact, metaphysics was a cycle of psychology. We
will mention here some of the most valuable Greek philosophers.
Cosmologists in Psychology
Thales 540-640 BC
Thales was the first Greek philosopher to find the explanation of nature in nature
itself. He said that water is the ultimate reality of the world, and
all other things are derived from it. He also introduced the concept of sensory
threshold.
Democritus 362-460 BC
He
presented the study of the universe better. According to his, the universe is
a collection of atoms, these tiny particles keep moving in a very orderly
manner.
Since man is also a part of the universe, it is also a collection of
atoms, including the atoms of the body and the atoms of the soul.
According to his, the essence of human life depends on these atoms and the process of construction
and destruction is also due to these atoms.
Heraclitus 500 BC
His
theory was that fire is the basic element of the universe, but it was
emphasized that the basic characteristic of fire is that it is constantly
changing.
It
does not contain solid and permanent elements, but its actual reality is change,
and by this change, its form and form keep on changing.
Anaxagoras 428-500 BC
He
was not satisfied with confining himself to the order of the elements, but
according to him the form and order are also very important for the study of
the universe.
He offered ideas about the sun and the moon. According to him,
there is no light in the moon but the light in it is due to the reflection of
the sun.
Pythagoras 497-580 BC
Pythagoras
was a non-Greek thinker who settled in Athens. He first used the word
philosophy. Pythagoras was a great mathematician, he was the first to invent
numbers.
He argued that the universe could be best understood by numbers, so he
adopted the method of knowing the information and facts of the universe
quantitatively.
Pythagoras agreed with the Greeks that the
universe was made up of fire, water, earth, and air. According to his theory,
man dies and is reborn in another world.
He recognized the presence of the
brain in the body and acknowledged its superiority over all parts of the body.
Empedocles 435-490 BC
According
to him, the universe is a mixture of four elements, fire, water, earth, and air.
According to his, due to the fluids in our body, we can see the existence of
five senses. Empedocles is also known for his theory of perception.
Sophists in Psychology
Hippocrates 377-460 BC
Hippocrates was a great Greek philosopher. He proposed the theory of human properties based on the theory of the universe.
According to him, fire, water, earth, and air,
which make up the universe, are found in the human body in the form of liquids,
thus Hippocrates divided human temperament into four types.
1. Phlegmatic
Due
to excess water in it, man becomes sluggish, lazy, and steals work.
2. Choleric
A
person who has a large amount of yellow moisture will have the personality
traits of enthusiasm and irritability.
3. Sanguine
A person with this temperament is very luxurious. Excess blood in the human body
causes such a mood.
4. Melancholic
The
bargaining power is due to the excessive amount of black moisture in the human
body. Such a person is quiet, serious, and talkative.
These
four fluids predominate in every person, and they cause different
characteristics.
Socrates 399-469 BC
His method is called the Socrates method. He would question his disciples with such skill that they would go from reasoning to truth, and contradictions would come to light.
The main purpose of his teachings was to know yourself and live a
happy life. The meaning of his words was to know oneself.
Socrates
emphasized spiritual study. He first used the word psyche, psyche means soul,
mind, or essence. He said that the truth is in every mind, the only difference
is to find it. We can find the truth through knowledge.
There
is so much evil in the world because people do not know about themselves.
Goodness spreads only by acquiring knowledge, and goodness means the act of
giving personal happiness.
Only through knowledge we can attain self-awareness
and the second name of the soul is self-awareness. The government should also
be in the hands of those who have gained self-awareness.
Socrates method of question and answer was literal logic, the search for truth, the
superiority of the soul and the mind, the meaninglessness of material
conditions, and most importantly, there was no contradiction between Socrates'
appearance and his words and deeds.
He always spoke truthfully and bitterly
without fear. The weighty words of Socrates, full of truth, shook the Athenian
scholars, and science and scientific progress came to a standstill.
The
youth were addicted to Socrates, he could have saved his life if he
wanted to. He could have escaped from captivity, but he also exhorted his
well-wishers that man should not be afraid of death but should face the truth
without fear.
Due to Socrates' thoughts, he was poisoned to death. But his ideas are alive
forever. Although he did not write a book himself, his promising student Plato
passed his ideas to others in his book Republic.
According to Plato,
Socrates was the first to introduce inductive logic. Socrates
was a proponent of reasoning. In order to find out what was hidden in people's
minds, he used a method in which he would ask people's questions and motives
and ask them questions and convince them with arguments.
Socrates
not only proposed the idea of the individual unconscious but also the
collective unconscious. In addition, Socrates presented ideas of intelligence
and will. It was as a result of Socrates' efforts that we may able to
understand the inner state of man.
Plato 347-427 BC
Plato was a promising student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle. In the field of psychology, Plato made a name for himself by interpreting dreams, studying unconscious stimuli, presenting perceptions and theories of personality.
Plato
proposed theory of mind-body dualism, according to which there is no
connection between mind and body.
For Plato, ideas are internal and have to do
with the soul. While the body is involved with liquids and the superiority of
the soul can be maintained only by denying the bodily desires. Plato's ideology
promoted Christianity and Monasticism.
According
to Plato, the structure of personality is made up of intelligence, intention or will,
and desire/ appetite, or hunger, and the basis of these three characteristics is
biological.
As the torch, the biological basis of the desire for intelligence
or hunger is the stomach, with these three qualities the personality is a
whole.
The balance of these three qualities produces a normal personality,
while the imbalance of these qualities does not result in a person being able to
adapt to the environment.
For
Plato, mental development means bringing unconscious facts to consciousness.
Plato believed in individual differences, he believed that every person has the
abilities bestowed by nature. Based on these abilities, it has divided
individuals into three professions.
According
to Plato, people with higher mental abilities belong to the first category,
while those with higher physical strength belong to the second category and
those with the third category are those who are less physically strong and less
mentally conscious.
Similarly, according to Plato, every person is educated and assigned a
job based on these abilities. This theory is called the measure of trend or attitude in
modern times.
Aristotle 322-384 BC
Aristotle was born in Macedonia, came to Athens at the age of eighteen, and became a student of Plato. Aristotle founded a new university in Athens, and taught Alexander the Great for three years.
Aristotle wrote numerous books on ethics,
history, religion, and science. Aristotle wrote many journals on philosophy and
psychology. JB Watson called him the first psychologist to do a lot of work in
the field of psychology.
Aristotle's
book De Anima, which means On the Soul, is the first definitive book on
psychology, in which he disagreed with his teacher Plato's view of the mind-body dualism.
To him, the soul and the body are inseparable, and
the mind is a function of bodily functions. That is why many modern psychologists
call Aristotle the founder of Functionalism.
Aristotle
called psychology the science of the soul. According to him, all bodily
functions take place under the influence of the soul, there are three levels of the soul in psychology.
- The earliest form of psychology is the growth force that occurs in plants, which Aristotle called the plant soul or vegetable soul.
- There are animals one level above the plants, which have the power of numbness as well as the sense of self, which Aristotle called the animal soul.
- Man is the highest in which there is growth power and sensory as well as self-reasoning, which Aristotle called the rahmal soul.
According
to Aristotle, the body is a material object that changes over time. The body
needs food, water, sleep, and rest to meet its biological needs. These are the
necessities without which it is impossible to live. He has called such needs as
instinct.
Man, whom Aristotle called the rahmal soul,
learns from intelligence and knowledge. Aristotle
discussed the senses and their actions and grouped the five senses, which are
still called the five senses.
In many cases, through the senses, experiences
make their mark on the soul. Aristotle emphasized the importance of the effects
of childhood experiences on the human psyche and the relationship between
material objects and metaphors.
Likewise, according
to Aristotle, the human soul has come into being for a specific purpose, the
failure to achieve which leads to deprivation, anxiety, and worry. For
Aristotle, by recognizing one's abilities and using them properly, one attains
eternal happiness.
Aristotle is also known for his social psychology. According
to him, man is a social animal, he needs society to live instinctively. In
addition, he needs society to develop his God-given abilities.
Expressing
his views on the art of speech, Aristotle explained the importance of his
attitude and motivation. It is an art to provoke people
to listen to your speech.
Psychological motivation has a special significance
in modern social psychology. About 2300 years before Freud, Aristotle was
aware of the importance of the psychology of catharsis.
Aristotle's psychology
and its effects on modern psychology have also been acknowledged by eminent
scholars such as Kulpe, Ebbinghaus, and CS Myer.
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