Philosophy: Locke and Hedonistic Motivation

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Questions and Answers

What drives human behavior according to the hedonistic theory of motivation?

Fulfilling religious or moral duties

Seeking knowledge and achievement

Pursuing social relationships and connections

Maintaining pleasure and avoiding pain (correct)

What philosophical stance does Hobbes represent?

Idealism and rationalism

Materialism and determinism (correct)

Empiricism and existentialism

Transcendentalism and realism

According to Locke, from where do all ideas originate?

Sensation and reflection (correct)

Philosophical reasoning and logic

Cultural and societal influences

Innate knowledge and instincts

Which type of idea cannot be further divided into other ideas?

Simple ideas Signup and view all the answers

What distinctly characterizes complex ideas according to Locke?

They are composites of simple ideas and analyzable. Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of human nature does Locke claim to be innate?

Operations of the mind Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following represents a mode, as defined by Locke?

The color red or the concept of beauty Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of feelings of pleasure and pain in relation to ideas?

They accompany all ideas and are fundamental to emotions. Signup and view all the answers

What are primary qualities according to Locke?

Solidity, extension, shape, motion, and quantity Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following concepts does NOT describe primary qualities?

Color Signup and view all the answers

What does the term 'binding problem' refer to?

The way inputs from different senses are integrated to form coherent perceptions Signup and view all the answers

How does Locke characterize secondary qualities?

They create ideas further removed from reality than primary qualities Signup and view all the answers

What philosophical question is posed by Molyneaux's Question?

Whether a blind person can identify shapes by sight after being able to touch them Signup and view all the answers

According to Aristotle, how does common sense operate?

Through synthesizing sensory input into a coherent experience Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following concepts is primarily associated with secondary qualities?

Temperature Signup and view all the answers

What do primary qualities share among different sensory modalities?

Coherent object properties like solidity and motion Signup and view all the answers

What response did Locke have regarding a former blind person's ability to distinguish a cube from a sphere by sight?

They would not be able to differentiate between the two. Signup and view all the answers

What concept did Berkeley introduce regarding existence?

To be is to be perceived. Signup and view all the answers

What was Locke's view on government?

Government by and for the people is essential. Signup and view all the answers

What does the principle of association relate to in terms of learning?

Ideas are learned through logical connections or associations. Signup and view all the answers

According to Berkeley, what is essential for judging distance?

Associating sensations from different modalities. Signup and view all the answers

What did Locke identify as necessary for children's education?

Encouraging emotional resilience and providing necessities. Signup and view all the answers

Who is considered the founder of modern liberalism?

John Locke. Signup and view all the answers

What did Hume contribute to philosophical thought?

Understanding of human nature and empiricism. Signup and view all the answers

What was Pierre Gassendi's main goal regarding Descartes's philosophy?

To replace it with observational inductive science Signup and view all the answers

According to Julien de La Mettrie, what primarily influences intelligence?

Brain size, brain complexity, and education Signup and view all the answers

What concept did Etienne Bonnot de Condillac propose through the metaphor of 'the sentient statue'?

Human mental abilities arise from sensations and experiences Signup and view all the answers

Which scientist was one of the first to use the term 'evolution' in the 18th century?

Charles Bonnet Signup and view all the answers

What radical idea did Claude-Adrien Helvetius propose concerning the mind?

Controlling experience can shape a person's mind Signup and view all the answers

What did Pierre Cabanis contribute to the field of psychology?

He focused on physiological mechanisms of sensory processes Signup and view all the answers

Which philosopher believed that humans and animals differ only in degree of intelligence?

Julien de La Mettrie Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of psychology did Maine de Biran explore throughout his career?

Four distinct phases of intellectual positions Signup and view all the answers

What did Locke describe as the main distinction between primary and secondary qualities?

Primary qualities exist independently of perception, whereas secondary qualities depend on perception. Signup and view all the answers

What does Berkeley's statement 'To be is to be perceived' imply about reality?

Only perceived things exist, denying external reality. Signup and view all the answers

How did Bain contribute to psychology and what new laws of association did he introduce?

He introduced the laws of frequency and intensity, transforming spontaneous activity into voluntary behavior. Signup and view all the answers

What analogy did Condillac use to illustrate the development of human mental processes?

A sentient statue that acquires sensations and emotions. Signup and view all the answers

What was the primary difference between Mach's version of positivism and Comte's?

Mach focused on individual perceptions, whereas Comte emphasized societal phenomena. Signup and view all the answers

What fundamental belief does scientism hold regarding knowledge?

Science is the only valid source of information. Signup and view all the answers

What does Comte's Law of Three Stages suggest about the evolution of societies?

Natural events are explained through superstition at first. Signup and view all the answers

According to Comte, how is knowledge defined?

Through empirical observation. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following did Comte propose regarding the role of scientists in society?

Scientists should act as priests in a religion of humanity. Signup and view all the answers

What unique perspective did Ernst Mach bring to positivism?

He advocated for defining concepts by measurement procedures. Signup and view all the answers

What was the essence of the verification principle in logical positivism?

All knowledge claims must relate to observable phenomena. Signup and view all the answers

How did Comte arrange the sciences in his hierarchy?

From least to most complex. Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes logical positivism from Comte's original positivism?

Logical positivism attempts to formulate general principles for knowledge gathering. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Empiricism, Sensationalism, and Positivism

Empiricism holds that all knowledge originates from experience.
Sensationalism argues that all ideas come from sensory experience.
Positivism asserts that science is the only legitimate source of knowledge.

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was influenced by Renaissance thinkers like Galileo, Newton, Bacon, and Descartes.

Competing Perspectives

British Empiricism (and French Sensationalism) countered the idea that some ideas are innate, emphasizing sensory experience as the source of all knowledge.
British Empiricists sought principles to explain mental processes.
German Rationalists considered an active mind fundamental in how humans understand the world.
Romantic philosophers prioritized the total person, emphasizing emotions and individuality.

British Empiricism

British Empiricism asserts that sensory experience is the foundation of knowledge.
It holds that knowledge must be derived from evidence gathered from the senses.
All further intellectual processes must utilize this sensory data to formulate valid propositions about the real world.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Founded British empiricism.
Viewed humans as machines operating within a larger machine.
Used the deductive method of Galileo and Descartes to explain the universe.
Attempted to apply methods of Galileo to study humans.

Government and Human Instincts

Hobbes believed governments are necessary to control human tendencies like aggression, selfishness, and greed.
He viewed democracy as dangerous due to its potential to free these tendencies.

Hobbes' Empiricism

Hobbes was a materialist, viewing the mind as a series of motions within the person.

Psychological Phenomena

Attention involves sensory organs retaining external stimuli.
Imagination describes the decay of sensory impressions over time.
Hobbes proposed a hedonistic theory of motivation, where seeking pleasure and avoiding pain drive human behavior.
He believed in a deterministic view of behavior, rejecting free will.

Complex Thought Processes

Complex thought processes arise from the law of contiguity, originating with Aristotle.
Hobbes was a materialist, mechanist, determinist, empiricist, and hedonist.

John Locke (1632-1704)

Was a key British Empiricist.
Set the stage for later empiricists.
His work was influenced by Robert Boyle.

Opposition to Innate Ideas

Locke opposed the idea of innate ideas, advocating that all ideas originate from sensory experience.

Sensation and Reflection

Ideas arise from sensation (direct sensory input) or reflection (analyzing prior sensory input).
Sensation is the source of all ideas.
Mental operations transform ideas into new ones (perception, thinking, etc.).
These operations are part of human nature.

Ideas and Emotions

Simple ideas cannot be broken down further.
Complex ideas are composites of simple ideas.
Operations like comparison, abstraction, etc., create complex ideas.
Feelings like pleasure and pain accompany ideas.

Complex Ideas

Substances are particular things existing independently.
Modes are properties that exist only as aspects of other things.
Relations are connections between ideas.

Primary and Secondary Qualities

Primary qualities are inherent in objects (shape, size, etc.).
Secondary qualities are sensations produced by primary qualities (color, taste, etc.).

Paradox of the Basins

The paradox highlights the difference between the physical and our subjective perception of things.

Aristotle's 'Common Sense'

Aristotle believed that information from the senses is integrated into a meaningful experience by common sense.

The Binding Problem

The binding problem relates to how sensory information from different modalities is brought together to create a unified object perception.

Molyneaux's Question

Molyneaux's question addresses the ability of a blind person, upon gaining sight, to recognize distinct shapes by sight alone.

Locke's Response to Molyneaux's Question

Locke's response suggested that a blind person without prior experience of shapes could not distinguish them.

Association of Ideas

Associations between ideas are founded on contiguity (association by closeness in time or space), similarity, and cause and effect.
Association explains how we form beliefs.
Some associations are natural and indicate true knowledge.

Education

Parents need to increase children's stress tolerance and ensure health needs are met.
Teachers should make learning pleasant and praise accomplishments.

Government

Locke challenged the divine right of kings, advocating for government by and for the people.
He is a founder of modern liberalism.

George Berkeley (1685-1753)

Was an Irish bishop and scholar.
Opposed materialism because it left no room for God.

"To be is to be perceived"

Berkeley's famous statement proposes that things only exist when perceived.

Principle of Association

All sensations consistently together become associated due to contiguity.

Theory of Distance Perception

Berkeley's theory implies sensations from different modalities (sight, touch) are needed to judge distance.

David Hume (1711-1776)

Was a Scottish philosopher.
Published a Treatise of Human Nature.
Felt opposition in the Scottish clergy.
Was an atheist.

Hume's Goal

Hume aimed to create a science of human nature blending his predecessors' empiricism with Newtonian principles.
He used Bacon's inductive method for carefully observing and generalizing.

Impressions and Ideas

Impressions are vivid perceptions (from senses or emotions).
Ideas are weaker forms of impressions (memories, thoughts).

Imagination/Simple and Complex Ideas

Simple ideas are foundational building blocks.
Complex ideas are combinations of simple ideas.

The Association of Ideas

Hume described three laws of association: resemblance, contiguity, and cause and effect.

Analysis of Causation

For Hume, causation is a psychological experience, not a logical necessity.

Analysis of the Mind and the Self

There is no mind or self independent of perceptions.

The Emotions and Behavior

All humans share basic passions.
However, humans differ in the degree of specific emotions.
Passions play a significant role in human behavior.

Hume's Influence

Hume significantly boosted psychology's importance.
He acknowledged demonstrative and empirical knowledge.

David Hartley (1705-1757)

Sought to combine Newton's concept of nerve vibrations with empiricism.

Principles of Association

Ideas are considered weaker copies of vibrations, which can be associated via contiguity.

Simple & Complex Ideas

Hartley discussed how simple ideas associate via contiguity to form more complex ones.

Laws of Association and Behavior

Laws of association explain voluntary behavior evolution from involuntary behavior.
Nerve vibrations produce feelings, and behaviors are learned through association with pleasure/pain.

Hartley's Influence

Hartley significantly influenced ideas in psychology

James Mill (1773-1836)

Associationism perspective was central to his thinking.
Complex ideas derive from the contiguity of simple ideas.

Associationism

The mind is built from simple sensations and ideas and assembled in terms of contiguity (being next to something).
Complex ideas are compounds of primitive ideas.
Contiguity may cause some associations to become stronger.

Strength of Association

The strength of an association depends on vividness/intensity and frequency.

Utilitarianism and Associationism

Utilitarianism emphasizes actions that maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
Associationism explains how ideas are formed and strengthened via associations.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

He proposed the idea of mental chemistry, which suggests that complex ideas may be completely different than their component simple ideas.

Mental Chemistry vs Mental Physics

Mental chemistry views complex ideas as fundamentally distinct from their constituent parts.
Mental physics would propose complex ideas are analogous to compounding simple elements.

A Science of Human Nature

The quest for a science of human nature entails deriving primary and secondary laws of human behavior.

A Science of Human Nature? (Cont' ')

Human actions cannot fully be predicted due to the unpredictability of individual circumstances.

Ethology

Mill argued for the development of a science (ethology) that explains the formation of character.

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)

Advocated for more education for women, which was generally absent.

Universal Education

Wollstonecraft was a strong advocate for universal education for girls and women.

Emotions

Wollstonecraft believed that emotions can provide unique insights, separate from reason.
She referred to this as "sensibility."

The Utopian Tradition

The utopian tradition encompasses societies and beliefs grounded in ideals of fairness.

French Sensationalism: Man as Machine

French sensationalists, like British empiricists, viewed the mind mechanically.
The mind is comprised of basic elements that can be understood through experience.
They believed that human mental abilities were explainable with fundamental concepts.

Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655)

Gassendi aimed to replace Descartes's philosophy with inductive science based on physical monism.
He articulated the concept "I move, therefore I am."

Julien de La Mettrie (1709-1751)

Materialist philosophy
Believed universe was composed of matter and motion.
Ideas/sensation are merely particle movements.
Differentiated human and animal intelligence only by degree.

Man a Machine

The concept that humans are analogous to machines.

Human and Nonhuman Animals

Animal and human intelligence is linked to complexity of brains, size, and education.
Humans typically have superior intelligence based on these factors.

Etienne Bonnot de Condillac (1714-1780)

Condillac emphasized that mental faculties (sense, memory, etc) originate from sensations.
He developed the "sentient statue" theory.

The Sentient Statue

Condillac's statue metaphor demonstrates the idea that a physical entity could develop mental faculties through the experience of sensation.

Charles Bonnet (1720-1793)

Bonnet contributed to early concepts of evolution, extending the idea of a sentient statue.
He focused on the physiological mechanisms behind sensation (part of explaining how humans have mental abilities).

Claude-Adrien Helvetius (1715-1771)

Helvetius highlighted the significance of experience in shaping the mind.
He proposed that experience determines what we sense, think and act on.
He considered empiricism a revolutionary perspective, leading to environmentalism (which influenced later thinkers like John Locke).

Pierre Cabanis (1757-1808)

His views align closely to the concept of the mind being a product of the body.
He developed a focus towards the mind being a product of sensory experiences originating from the body and physical world

Maine de Biran (1766-1824)

Biran's intellectual positions evolved through distinct phases, reflecting the developments in his thought.

Positivism

Scientism emphasizes science as the sole source of valid knowledge, rejecting religious explanations.
Positivists believe that science itself should be a foundation akin to a religion, providing certainty and explaining the entire universe.

Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

Comte proposed that the surest way of knowing is observation and experience.
He developed the "Law of the Three Stages".

Comte's Positivism

Comte's positivism links knowledge with observational evidence.
Direct sensory experience is crucial.

The Law of Three Stages

Societies move through three stages (Theological, Metaphysical, and Scientific) in explaining the world.
The scientific stage emphasizes explanation via observed phenomena.

Religion and the Sciences

Comte proposed a religion of humanity, replacing God with science.
The sciences are arranged hierarchically, starting with mathematics and moving towards sociology.

Ernst Mach (1838-1916)

Mach proposed a form of positivism that emphasizes sensory experience and avoiding notions of "ultimate reality."
He focused on what is directly observable through scientific tools.

Logical Positivism

In the 1920s, a group of philosophers introduced a type of positivism which emphasized ideas such as verification principles, protocol sentences, and dispositional concepts.

Questions to Consider

Diverse questions about the different philosophers and their ideas were raised.

Readings for Next Class

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Description

Test your knowledge on the hedonistic theory of motivation and the philosophical views of Locke and Hobbes. This quiz covers key concepts such as primary and secondary qualities, complex ideas, and foundational philosophical questions. Dive deep into the intricacies of human behavior and perception as discussed by these influential thinkers.