Major topics:

- The Republic: a utopian society

- Concept of Psyche: tripartite psyche

- Ethics: the ideal of inner harmony

- Theory of Knowledge: Allegory of the Cave

- Theory of Reality: the concept of "Forms"

- Theory of the Origin of Ideas

- a Utopia

- Three classes in society:

- Rulers, warriors, merchants -- & slaves!

- Harmony among classes

- Rulers led by Reason

- "Philosopher-King"

- Favoured oligarchy, not democracy!

Note: Compare Skinner's Walden II,

where a "Psychologist-King"(?)

who uses behavioral technology

(rather than use of reason) is favored!

Part Seat of Seeks Characterizes

REASON Thinking Wisdom ESSENCE of

SPIRIT "Feeling" Success Assertiveness,

APPETITE Desire Bodily Indiscriminate

- Recognized individual differences according to

which part of psyche dominates

- Matching of aptitudes and occupations, leading to class differences

- The three parts of psyche, like the three

classes of society, often conflict

- Inner harmony desirable: Harmony leads to

happiness!

- The search for Justice

- Justice results from the balance in the qualities of

-> Wisdom

-> Courage, &

-> Temperance

- Harmony as virtue

- Reason as a tool in realizing this virtue

(Comprehension of harmony and beauty in the

world with the use of reason brings happiness.)

Note: Plato's Ethics anticipates contemporary models

that implicitly value inner harmony, e.g., by assuming the desirability of

- resolving inner conflicts (Freud),

- "tension-reduction" (Lewin)

- reducing "cognitive dissonance" (Festinger)

Human beings can only know sensory impressions of objects directly; not the objects themselves.

Implications of the allegory:

(a) a mistrust of sensory experience & thus of

observational data as a means of knowledge

(b) emphasis on REASON as a means of obtaining knowledge:

Like the light which illuminates the whole world,

REASON illuminates the mind:

[the myth of the sun]

Plato's view of Reality

__________________

Objects States of mind

___________________________

WORLD Higher Knowing

OF forms

REALITY ---------- -------------

Accessible Lower Thinking

to reason forms

___________________________

WORLD

OF Objects Believing

APPEARANCE ----------- ------------

Accessible Images Imagining

to the senses

---------------------------------

Additional References:

(1) W.T. Jones: The Classical Mind

(2) On the significance for psychology of

Aristotle's view of causality:

J.F. Rychlak: Personality and

Psychotherapy, 1981, pp. 2-7

Aristotle's views on:

- Politics

- Knowledge: deductive logic

- Reality: form & matter

- Causality: four types of causes

- Biology & Psyche: scala naturae

- Ethics: happiness as good,

happiness as the degree of

actualization of potentials

- Authored "Politics" and "Nicomachean Ethics"

in which he said that a human is first

"a political creature whose nature is to live with others."

- Reflects the interest of the ancient

Greeks in the affairs of the state

- Suggested a descriptive typology of states

- NOTE: Emphasis on description

- as opposed to prescription

- contrast Plato's utopianism

- Did not always or absolutely mistrust

the senses as a source of knowledge

- Favoured empiricism in that he collected

"data" (e.g., biological specimens)

- Still, there was a strong "rationalist"

element in his approach to knowledge:

- propositions which he believed to be

true were based more on reasoning

than of the observation of facts.

- Pioneered in Deductive Logic.

- Showed how to proceed in disciplined

reasoning, or drawing conclusions correctly,

such that these conclusions must be true

if the premises are true.

All men are mortal - (Major Premise) |

Socrates is a man - (Minor Premise) } syllogism

Therefore, Socrates is mortal. |

Note: In deductive reasoning, one begins

with a universal generalization, and

proceeds to validate a particular instance.

- Contrast with Inductive reasoning

where one starts with a single observation,

continues to observe many instances, and

then try to arrive at a (hopefully universal)

generalization (e.g., a "law" of nature:

laws of gravity, or of learning)

Note:

How to make a connection between the

particular and the general, or among

one - many - & all

is a perennial problem in

(a) classifying, or putting several particular objects

--chemicals, plants, people--in a common category

(b) defining concepts (what is common to a class)

and classification (e.g., in botany)

(c) generalizing across a category, or universally

(e.g., in discovering universal laws in science)

- Transformed Plato's distinction between Form & Object

- For Aristotle (unlike Plato), Matter and Form are

two inseparable aspects of any thing.

MATTER

- is the "stuff" of which things are made, e.g.,

- clay is matter of which bricks are made;

- bricks are matter of which walls are made . . .

- accounts for "thisness" (particularity) of the object

- has potential for actualization of its Form,

- e.g., food has potential to be flesh

FORM

- "shape" into which matter is molded,

- e.g., rectangularity of the brick

- essence of a thing whereby it

belongs to a class, e.g.,"humanness" whereby a body

is human, not merely flesh or animal

- accounts for "whatness" or general

(universal) category to which the object belongs

- implies actuality which the potential turns into at its best,

- e.g., an acorn can turn into an oak potential is actualized.

Note: In contrast with Plato,

(a) There is no separation (dualism)

of Object & Form, body & soul

(b) Forms are not merely abstract, imperceptible

"ideas"; they may be actualized in nature

(c) Body is not less "real" than soul;

both are part of Nature

- a fully naturalistic (not idealist) view of humans,

- anticipates developmental theories (e.g., Piaget, Erikson), and "self-actualization" models (e.g., Maslow)

"Men do not know a thing till they
have grasped the 'why' of it."

- The statue metaphor: A statue is

- made of clay (material cause)

- through movements of sculpting

(efficient cause)

- as per a plan (formal cause)

- for a purpose, e.g., to decorate a

living room ( final cause)

MATERIAL:

- "That out of which a thing comes to

be and persists": e.g., bronze of statue

- In modern psych.: example difficult to give.

FORMAL:

- "The statement of essence, and its

genera {class}": e.g., octave

(defined) by the relation of 2 : 1

- In Psych.: Explain behavior with

reference to a personality type

(introvert), or disease category like

"Manic Depressive Psychosis."

EFFICIENT:

- "Primary source of change or coming

to rest" or "moving cause", e.g.,

builder as cause of building.

- In Psych.: "drive" as "moving cause."
or "stimulus" as a "prod" (Skinner) (unmoved mover)

FINAL:

- "That 'for the sake of which' a thing

is done", e.g., health as cause of

walking about.

- In Psych.: "Purpose" as cause of behavior

(controversial in modern psych).

- Collected 500 animal specimens

- Studied chicken embryo at various

stages of development

The Scala Naturae :

- A continuum of life including plants,

animals and human beings

(a) NUTRITIVE PSYCHE

Plants - using nutrition

(a) - reproduction

(b) SENSITIVE PSYCHE

Animals - sensation, "awareness"

(a+b) - actualizing potential of

eyes, ears, etc.

(c) RATIONAL PSYCHE

Humans - makes thinking possible,

(a+b+c) - abstracts principles,

- synthesizes experience

Note: - Contrast with Plato;

- Places humans in nature

- We can call up impressions of

original sensation which may:

(a) follow one another (contiguity)

(b) be like one another (similarity)

(c) contrast one another (contrast)

- Note: Anticipates laws of learning and

principles of perception

One may mistake a stranger

- for a lover when excited by love, or

- for an enemy when excited by fear

Note: a statement of the idea that emotions

distort perception

- no naive trust in sensory experience.

- Happiness as Good!

- Anything is happy to the extent

that it is performing its function,

i.e., actualizing its Form

- This anticipates the "self-actualization" model of Maslow.