The philosophical roots of psychology come from far before the 19th century. Here are 10 philosophers you should consider.
Solomon (990-931 BC)
King of Israel, Solomon (sometimes called Jedidiah) was the son of David and Bathsheba. Born and raised in Jerusalem. Although there are many stories of his fame, wealth, and 700 wives (not counting his 300 concubines). Formed many alliances with neighboring countries, including the Queen of Sheba. Best known for his wisdom, including offering to split a child in half to settle competing claims, revealing the actual motives of the two women. An example of wisdom literature, and honored as a prophet by several religions.
Thales (645-625 BC)
Although his accomplishment may be apocryphal, Thales (645-625 BC) is credited with stating mathematics first theorems, founding physics by searching for a physis (primary element), and predicting the eclipse of the sun of May 28, 585 BC.
Although Aristotle called him the first philosopher, Thales of Miletus is better known as the first scientist. He was one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece and noted for his knowledge of mathematics, astronomy and physics.
Located approximately 25 miles south of Aydin, Turkey, Miletus was a large, prosperous city with 4 harbors. The city sat on the end of peninsula and was a prominent center of Ionian culture and commerce. Miletus later became the home of Homer and where Hippodamus introduced the idea of a planned city grid. In close proximity, the city sported a 5000 seat theater (which the Romans later expanded to 15000 seats) and natural springs (which Emperor Marcus Aurelius built into a bath complex for his wife Faustina). Today, the city is a landlocked site of ruins but still a popular tourist attraction.
Only slightly younger than Solon, Thales came to notoriety for correctly predicting an eclipse of the sun. Although he probably only predicted a solar event would occur sometime during the year of 585 BC, his accomplishment reached mythological proportions because the eclipse of May 28, 585 BC was nearly total. In addition, it occurred during a battle which Greece eventually won.
It’s not clear whether his prediction was based on astronomy and geometry or by dumb luck, but Thales became a prominent figure of his day, and, as was the custom many apocryphal accounts of amazing accomplishments were attributed to him. For example, Thales is said to have cornered the market in olive oil because of his ability to accurately predict the weather. He also was credited with falling into a well because he was too intent on looking at the stars, measuring the pyramids of Egypt by their shadow, introduced geometry, calculated the sun’s course, believed that the earth was flat, divided the year into 365 days, and discovered the seasons of the year.
It is difficult to differentiate man from myth. Although 300 fragments of Solon’s poems have survived, none of Thales writings have survived. He apparently founded no major school, yet his reputation as a thinker and scientist is substantial. Aristotle called him the first philosopher but his philosophy had more to do with what today would be called science (the nature of the universe and its origins). The mathematical principles attributed to him may well have imported by Thales from Egypt, not personally discovered independently. But these principles, sometimes called Thales’ Theorems (e.g., opposite angles are equal, circle is bisected by its diameter, etc.), form the basis of modern geometry.
In many ways, the primary contribution of Thales was his approach questioning, not the answers themselves. He wanted to find the basic elements from which the complex universe had been derived. Perhaps it was the proximity of Miletus to the sea or the influence of Egyptian thought, but Thales maintained that the cosmos could be reduced to water. Everything comes from water and eventually returns to that fundamental state.
Surprisingly, Thales did not rely on mythical explanations or refer to the powers of pantheistic gods. It was a materialistic explanation that tried to explain the world with simple, natural phenomena.
Solon (630-560 BC)
About the time King Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Solon (630-560BC) introduced democracy to Athens. Using a four-tier hierarchical structure based on wealth, each class of citizen had certain privileges and responsibilities.
Considered exceptionally wise (one of the Seven Wise Men of Athens), Solon introduced democratic principles to Athens. His version of democracy was not government by the people; it was more like nonbinding consultation between the rich and the people they rule.
Still, it was an improvement; indeed, Solon’s constitutional reform was a major and controversial step toward representative government. An aristocrat by birth, Solon expanded the government by excluding poor aristocrats and adding wealthy non-aristocrats. His approach was to use annual income to determine class status, instead of privilege by birth, which was the standard way of selecting leaders.
In 594 BC, the economy of Athens was in ruins and its people near revolt. The economy relied heavily on agricultural exports but failed crops and excessive exports of grain meant there wasn’t enough food for the Athenians. Farmers were forced into slavery to pay for their debts, and the poor wanted land reform and a redistribution of wealth. The rich wanted more power, and the aristocracy were splintered and unwilling to change.
Given enough power to reconstruct the economy, Solon could have established a tyrannical dictatorship. Instead, he gave everyone a new start. Solon freed the slaves, canceled all debts, limited exports to olive oil, and encouraged an occupational shift from agriculture to trade. Weights and measures were standardized, and loans couldn’t be secured with personal freedom as collateral. Solon also minted Athen’s first coin.
In order to determine class status, Solon instituted a forerunner of income tax. Citizens was required to specify their annual income and were then assigned to one of four social classes of the basis of their wealth. The basis of comparison was the medimni, which is approximately equivalent to a cubic foot of grain or 36 liters of wine. The wealthy (500 medimni or higher), the professional soldier with war-ready horse (300 medimni), the working class with a team of oxen (200 medimni), and the poor (less than 200 medimni). Office holders for the Council of 400 were selected from the top three groups but all 4 strata were able to attend the general assembly.
Although he didn’t do away with the social class distinctions, he imposed constitutional reforms that radically changed the way government operated. Thirty years after Dracon introduced strict written laws to Athens, Solon reformed the society to be more responsive to the peoples’ needs. He kept Draco’s distinction between premeditated and accidental murder, but eliminated the more “draconian” aspects of the law.
Solon’s laws were displayed on wooden tablets that revolved. Although his reforms didn’t go far enough to please the poor and went too far to please the aristocracy, Solon changed the basic structure of Athenian society and laid the foundation for the reforms of Cleisthenes.
Solon came to prominence through his poetry, which he used to inspire, instruct and convince Athenians to action. During the war with Megara, Solon wrote a poem that inspired Athens to rejoin the battle and win the war. It was this poem that made him famous. Having gained fame and influence through poetry, Solon used his literary skill during the reformation of Athens to convince others to accept his proposals. According to Plato, it was Solon who brought the myth of Atlantis to Greece, no doubt through a poem.
Pythagoras (582-500)
He is best known for the Pythagorean Theorem, named in his honor. Pythagoras believed in harmony of the universe, orderliness of thought, and transmigration of souls.
Like Thales, much of what is known about Pythagoras is a combination of fact and fancy. There are apocryphal accounts of his travels to Egypt, the invention of musical scales, miraculous cures and secret writings. More reliable are the accounts that his mother was from Sámos, his father was a tradesman from Tyre, and that he was born sometime between 582-560 BC. In about 530 BC, Pythagoras moved to Crotona, Italy and founded his school of religious-philosophical thought.
Believing that the ultimate explanation of everything could be found in numbers, the Pythagoreans observed the world around them and looked for patterns. At first, numbers were symbols used to describe reality. Eventually, numbers took on a life of their own and this numerology was used to explain everything. Life was a combination of opposites: odd-even, left-right, good-bad, dark-light, masculine-feminine.
Confucius (551-479 BC).
At nearly the same time as Pythagoras, Confucius was teaching his practical approach to life. He emphasized ethics, morality, and the importance of the family.
Confucius is the Latin version of K’ung-fu-tzu (Master K’ung). His family name was K’ung, and he was called Ch’iu K’ung or simply K’ung. He devoted his life to learning and teaching. To be well-learned in his day was to have mastered the six arts: arithmetic, music, calligraphy, archery, chariot handling and ritual. In addition to the six arts, Confucius studied justice and history, particularly the ways of Emperors Yao (2300 BC) and Shun (2200 BC). He was interested in rituals and how they met the needs of the community. He reasoned that traditions should not be discarded but revitalized.
Confucius identified 5 essential virtues: kindness, decorum, wisdom, faithfulness and honesty. His focus was not on the supernatural but on reason and self-cultivation. Confucius believed that ordinary people can do great things. People can be taught and can shape their destiny by continuous self-improvement. Consequently, all men should be educated. Education should be a life-long process that improves the individual and ultimately leads to public service and the restoration of the nation. Confucianism is more of an inclusive humanism than an organized religion. It is a belief that inspires moral behavior and political action.
Sun Tzu (512-496 BC)
Philosopher and military strategist, Sun Tzu is best known as the writer of Art of War. As a strategist and planner, diplomacy and are preferred. But battle theory and tactics are also discussed. Credited for helping unify China, Sun Tzu emphasized the importance of making and breaking alliances.
Socrates (469-399 BC)
Primarily known through Plato’s writings, Socrates is sometimes called the first social scientist because of his interest in ethics, economics, and aesthetics. He believed that thought came from the psyche (the spirit or soul of the individual). Tall, dark and handsome would not have described Socrates well. Short, dark and unattractive would have been closer. But his sharp mind, witty sense of humor, and unequaled speaking ability made him very popular. He preferred talking to writing, and spent much of his life in the marketplace of Athens. Socrates was more concerned with the nature of man than with the composition of matter. In 399 BC, Socrates was charged with interfering with the gods (a crime punishable by death). His continued reference to an inner voice was interpreted as demonic possession, and his teaching was thought to undermine the morals of Athen’s youth. Found guilty by a small majority, Socrates countered with an alternative sentence (as was customary). Instead of suggesting a serious alternative, however, Socrates offered to pay a small fine. They jury was not amused, and with increased majority sentenced him to die by lethal dosage of hemlock.
Plato (427-347 BC)
TA student of Socrates, Plato (427-347 BC) introduced a dualistic view of the world. Ideas are separate from matter and exist in their own world; matter is an imperfect copy of that reality.
Although Socrates never founded a school, Plato’s Academy offered courses in astronomy, mathematics, philosophy and political science. Differentiating between perfect ideas and imperfect matter, Plato introduced a dualistic view of the world. Ideas are separate from matter and exist in their own world. What we see are imperfect representations of those perfect forms. For Plato, knowledge is reminiscent (existing in the soul before birth), and the psyche is the source of thinking and moral actions.
Plato held that ideas are reality but that matter is an imperfect copy of that reality. For Plato the Form (the general abstraction of the principle) was more important than material example. The Form of circularity is good and pure but a drawn circle is only an approximation of that ideal. Obviously, art would not be highly valued by Plato because it was an imperfect copy of an imperfect copy of reality.
Plato was a dualist, in the sense that he separated ideas (which were good) from matter (which was at worse evil and at best imperfect). In his 35 dialogues, Plato describes the search for wisdom. Ultimately, he concludes that the essence of people (the psyche) are made of three parts: the rational, the will and the appetites. Education raised people from lowly appetites to the use of will and ultimately to the highest human achievement – philosophy. Naturally, Plato suggests that society should be composed of three classes: the philosopher-kings, the military and the merchants.
Although Plato allowed that some knowledge may exist in the soul prior to birth (which he called reminiscence), his emphasis was on learned, infallible knowledge. For Plato, bad behavior was due to the lack of knowledge. He rejected the empiricism of direct observation because is a derived experience and was merely opinion. In contrast, knowledge brings justice, light, and reason.
Aristotle (384-323 BC)
Aristotle proposed a tri-level hierarchy of faculties: nutrition, perception and intellect. Nutrition applies to all living things, perception to all animals, and intellect to all people. Intellect is like a sixth sense, a “common sense,” that synthesizes input from the five perceptual senses. In his book On The Soul, he proposes that the general distinction of form and matter also describes what makes us human. The soul (psyche) and the body are aspects of the same entity; they are the form and matter (respectively) of human existence.
Although the Greek culture was polytheistic, Aristotle argued for the existence of a divine principle above all the rest. Since the world had always existed, God was not thought of as a creator but as the Prime Mover (first cause) of the chain of events we call history. For Aristotle, God was pure intellect; perfect unity and unchangeable but not personal or interested in our lives.
Aristotle didn’t coin the term “logic” but he defined it and founded it as a science. Indeed, into the 20th century, all logic was Aristotelian logic. His syllogisms were chains of reasoning that began with a proposition and ended with a conclusion. This proposition-proposition-conclusion format tests the logical consistency of ideas and the validity of logic. Building on Plato’s deductive method, Aristotle’s analytic approach was both inductive and deductive. Plato believed that the world we perceive is but an imperfect copy of the real world. Aristotle held that the world perceived is the real world and there is no need to assume perceptions are imperfect copies of a separate world of ideas. Consequently, careful observation of the world perceived can lead to principles which can be applied to specific circumstances.
Ironically, it is careful observations that showed the errors of Aristotle’s scientific conclusions. Like Hippocrates, Aristotle noted four basic elements, each with its own “specific gravity.” But in addition to earth, air, fire and water, Aristotle added a fifth: ether (to describe the content of the heavens). Similarly, his geocentric cosmology, his fixed species model of zoology and his assumptions about falling objects were all overturned by careful observations and the application of Aristotelian logic.
But consider how enduring his idea were. Aristotle’s belief that heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones lasted until Galileo dropped weights from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. With minor exceptions, Aristotle’s view that earth is the center of the universe went unchallenged until Capernicus. And is wasn’t until Charles Darwi’s careful observations that evolution replaced the belief in a fixed set of species. As for ether being a fundamental element of physics, it was completely discounted until Albert Einstien’s 1905 special theory of relativity. And in psychology, Aristotle’s 3 laws of association (i.e., similarity, contiguity, and opposites) are still thought to impact encoding processes.
Zeno (333-272 BC)
It’s important to keep your Zeno’s clear. There’s Zeno of Elea and Zeno of Citium. Zeno of Elea (Italy, 495-430 BC) is the one who came up with those paradoxes Aristotle loved. Remember the one about it’s being impossible to reach a goal? In order to reach a goal, one must first travel half the distance. But there are an infinite number of halves, so reaching a goal must be impossible. For Zeno of Elea, reality is reasoning, not the illusion the senses provide.
The other Zeno was Zeno of Citium (333-262 BC). Founded in about 1400 BC, Citium was a seaport on southwest coast of Cyprus and was owned at one time or another by Tyre, Assyria, Greece and Persia. The city was deserted during Middle Ages because of the damage to its harbor by earthquakes and silt.
When Zeno of Citium was 23, he moved to Athens and studied Cynic and Platonic philosophy. Then in about 300 BC, Zeno began his own school in Athens. He emphasized self-control, duty and equality. Like Plato, Zeno proclaimed 4 essential virtues: wisdom, courage, justice and temperance (moderation).
The universe was created and set in motion by an ultimate spirit of reason (Logos). It is orderly, consistent and benevolent. The fate of the cosmos and its inhabitants has been predetermined. There are no accidents, so fighting against one’s fate is futile. Consequently, it is the duty and ultimate virtue of every living thing is to become one with the universe and accept what happens in contentment.
Zeno emphasized the importance of rational choices. His tri-part philosophy (logic, physics and ethics) was ultimately a system of ethics, with logic and physics as ways of acquiring the knowledge necessary to make ethical decisions. He called people to duty, not rebellion. Consequently, his views were not opposed by Greek or Roman rulers, and his popularity flourished.
Zeno’s message was one of hope. After Alexander the Great and Aristotle died (323 and 322 BC, respectively), Athens was no longer the political and cultural center of the world. The Greek city-states had provided stability, localized rule and responsive government. Now their power was disappearing and the future was unclear. It was in this context that Zeno’s gospel of courage in the face of suffering was received.
Zeno taught his students from a painted porch (stoa poikile) at his school, so his philosophy became known at stoicism. It was immediately popular and continued to held in high regard for hundreds of years. Both Seneca (3BC-AD65) and Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) were Stoics.
The Stoics believed that destiny is set. The universe determines everything; it is our duty to patiently accept our fate in long-suffering. Happiness is freedom from desire, freedom from fear and freedom from evil. Although the body can be caged, the will cannot be conquered.
More
The philosophical roots of psychology come from ancient thinkers, rationalism and empiricism. Wundt was a product of these ideas, and combed them with experimental physiology to create the new science of psychology.
of these philosophers lead us to Wundt. But Wundt was also a physiologist. Here is what you need to know about his science background.
British Empiricism
Want to jump ahead?
- Philosophical Roots of Psychology
- Waves & Schools of Psychology
- Old Philosophers, New Ideas
- Hobbes, Galileo & Descartes
- Experimental Physiology
- American Psychology
- Japanese Psychology
- German Psychology
- Russian Psychology
- Five Paths To Truth
- Birth of Psychology
- British Empiricism
- British Psychology
- French Psychology
- Wundt
