History of Psychology Chapter 3

Plotinus hierarchy of all things

1. the One or God (supreme and unknowable) 2. the Spirit (the image of the One; part of every human soul by reflecting on it we could come close to knowing God) 3. the Soul (the cause of all things that existed in the spiritual world) **from the One emanated the Spirit and from the Spirit emanated the Soul and from the Soul emanated nature

Plotinus

A Neoplatonist who emphasized the importance of embracing the soul through introspection. These subjective (transcendental) experiences were more important and informative than physical experiences. Saw the body as the soul's prison and engaging in intense meditation can release the soul from the body and dwell among the eternal and the changeless

dogmatist

According to the Skeptics, any person claiming to have arrived at an indisputable truth.

mystery religions

Ancient religions (cults) that were characterized by secret rites of initiation; ceremonies designed to bring initiates closer to a deity or deities, to symbolize death and rebirth, to offer purification and forgiveness of sins, and to cause the exaltation of a new life; the confession of sin; and a strong feeling of community among members. Examples include the cults of Magna Mater (Great Mother), Isis and Mithras

Antisthenes

Founder of Cynicism; studied with the sophist Gorgias and a companion of Socrates; believed that society, with its emphasis on material goods, status and employment, was a distortion of nature and should be avoided; preached a back-to-nature philosophy that involved a life free from wants, passions, and the many conventions of society; he thought that true happiness depended on self-sufficiency

Philosophy in rome

Greeks championed debate and even the chaos of democracy, the Romans sought law and order. In the Roman Empire, stoicism won out over epicureanism because stoicism was compatible with the Roman emphasis on law and order

the early Christian church is best thought of as a blending of

Judeo-Christian tradition with Platonism or neoplatonism

Neoplatonism

Philosophy that emphasized the most mystical aspects of Plato's philosophy. Transcendental experiences were considered the most significant type of human experience.

Marcus Aurelius

Roman emperor and author of the Meditations, a seminal work of Stoic philosophy

Philo

a Neoplatonist who combined Jewish theology with Plato's philosophy. Philo differentiated between the lower self (the body) and a spiritual self, which is made in God's image. The body is the source of all evil; therefore, for the spiritual self to develop fully, one should avoid or minimize sensory experience. Just like Pythagoreans and Plato, he condemned sensory experience because it could not provide certain knowledge and it interferes with a direct understanding of and communication with God. All knowledge comes from God and to receive His wisdom, the soul (mind) must be purified.

Jesus

a simple, sensitive man who St Paul and others claimed was the Messiah. Those who believe Jesus to be the son of God are called Christians. Taught that knowledge of good and evil is revealed by God and that, once revealed, such knowledge should guide human conduct

two primary principles of skepticism (acceptable guides for living)

appearances: simple sensations and feelings convention: traditions, laws and customs of society

Epicurus of Samos

based his philosophy on Democritus's atomism but rejected his determinism; founder of Epicureanism; according to him, the atoms making up humans never lose their ability to move freely (free will); also agreed with Democritus that there was no afterlife because the soul was made up of freely moving atoms that scattered upon death; believed in Olympic gods but he though that they did not concern themselves with the world or with human affairs, he preferred naturalistic explanations to supernatural ones and they strongly protested against magic, astrology and divination; the goal of life was individual happiness and avoiding extremes (use reason and choice) for a balanced life; intense pleasure to be avoided

Diogenes

disciple of Antisthenes; rejected conventional religion, manners, housing, food and fashion; advocated natural impulse as the proper guide for action instead of social convention

St Paul

founded the Christian church by claiming that Jesus was the son of God. Paul placed the soul or spirit in the highest position among the human faculties, the body in the lowest and the mind in a position somewhere in between. Believed that true knowledge can be attained by escaping from the influence of sensory information

Zeno of Citium

founder of Stoicism; believed that the world was ruled by a divine plan and that everything in nature, including humans was there for a reason

Pyrrho of Elis

founder of skepticism

unacceptable principles of skepticism

judgments or interpretations of appearances

the Epicureans were

materialists because they believed that the universe is eminently physical, and that includes the soul of man

vedantism

the Indian religion that emphasized the importance of semiecstatic trances; perfection could be approximated

Zoroastrianism

the Persian religion that equated truth and wisdom with the brilliance of the sun and ignorance and evil with darkness

skepticism

the belief that all beliefs can be proved false; thus, to avoid the frustration of being wrong, it is best to believe nothing; advocated suspension of judgement; sought a life of quietude, tranquility or imperturbability

stoicism

the belief that one should live according to nature's plan and accept one's fate with indifference or in the case of extreme hardship, with courage; believed that to live in accordance with nature was the ultimate virtue; did not overly value material possessions because they could be lost or taken away

cynicism

the belief that the best life is one lived close to nature and away from the rules and regulations of society; nature should guide human behavior; to cynists, social conventions are human inventions, and living in accordance with them causes shame, guilt, hypocrisy, greed, envy and hate; making sacrifices for others, patriotism and devotion to a common cause were considered foolish

epicureanism

the belief that the best life is one of long-term pleasure resulting from moderation

hedonism

the belief that the good life consists of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain