Beginning of Modern Science

By
Shazia Parveen 809239
Zoha Masood 809237
Huma Zanib 809223
Fareeda Mustafa 809243
Roshan Aftab 809227

Supervised By
Ma’am Tubba
An assignment submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
IN
Psychology

Department of Psychology
Government Municipal Degree College Faisalabad
December 2019
Table of Contents
Empiricism ...................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Define ........................................................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Types of empiricism ......................................................................................................... 1
Positivism........................................................................................................................................ 2
2.1 Positivism.............................................................................................................................. 2
2.2 Etymology ............................................................................................................................. 2
2.3 Positivists .............................................................................................................................. 2
2.4 Anti-positivism ..................................................................................................................... 3
2.5 Logical positivism and post-positivism ................................................................................ 3
Sensation ......................................................................................................................................... 4
3.1 Sensation ............................................................................................................................... 4
3.2 Types of sensations ............................................................................................................... 4
3.2.1 Visual ............................................................................................................................. 4
3.2.2 Auditory ......................................................................................................................... 4
3.3.3 Gustatory ........................................................................................................................ 5
3.3.4 Olfactory ........................................................................................................................ 5
3.3.5 Somatosensory ............................................................................................................... 5
Rationalization ................................................................................................................................ 6
4.1 Rationalization ...................................................................................................................... 6
4.2 History................................................................................................................................... 6
4.3 Criticism................................................................................................................................ 6
4.4 Psychoanalysis ...................................................................................................................... 6
4.5 Cognitive dissonance ............................................................................................................ 7
Romanticism and Existentialism..................................................................................................... 8
5.1 Introduction of Romanticism ................................................................................................ 8
5.2 Origins of the Romantic Movement ..................................................................................... 8
5.3 Romantic Nationalism .......................................................................................................... 8
5.4 The Napoleon Empire ........................................................................................................... 8
5.5 Romantics Response to Napoleon ........................................................................................ 8
5.6 Romanticism and the Arts ..................................................................................................... 9
5.7 Romanticism and the Arts ..................................................................................................... 9

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 5.8 Introduction to Existentialism ............................................................................................... 9
5.9 Sartre an Existentialism ........................................................................................................ 9
5.10 Sartre an Existentialism .................................................................................................... 10
5.11 Existentialism and Psychology ......................................................................................... 10
Structuralism ................................................................................................................................. 11
6.1 Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920):............................................................................................. 11
6.2 Edward Bradford Titchener (1867-1927): .......................................................................... 11
Individual differences ................................................................................................................... 13
7.1 Define .............................................................................................................................. 13
7.2 Types of individual differences ...................................................................................... 13
7.3 Causes of individual differences ..................................................................................... 13
Brain function ............................................................................................................................... 15
8.1 Nervous system ............................................................................................................... 15
British empiricism ......................................................................................................................... 17
9.1 john locks ........................................................................................................................ 17
9 2 George Berkeley ............................................................................................................. 17
9.3 David Hume .................................................................................................................... 18

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Beginning of modern Science Empiricism

Empiricism
1.1 Define
In philosophy, empiricism is a theory that states that knowledge comes only or
primarily from sensory experience. It is one of several views of epistemology, the study of human
knowledge, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empiricism emphasizes the role of empirical
evidence in the formation of ideas, rather than innate ideas or traditions. However, empiricists may
argue that traditions (or customs) arise due to relations of previous sense experiences.

Empiricism in the philosophy of science emphasizes evidence, especially as discovered in

experiments. It is a fundamental part of the scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must
be tested against observations of the natural world rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning,
intuition, or revelation.

Empiricism, often used by natural scientists, says that "knowledge is based on experience"
and that "knowledge is tentative and probabilistic, subject to continued revision and falsification"
Empirical research, including experiments and validated measurement tools, guides the scientific
method.

1.2 Types of empiricism

There are two types of empiricism

 Classical empiricism:
“Classical empiricism is based on the beliefs that there is no such thing as innate or in born
knowledge “
 Radical empiricism
Radical empiricism asserts that experiences includes both particulars and relations between those
particular and that therefore both deserve a place in our explanations In concrete terms any
philosophical worldview is flawed if it stops at the physical level and fail to explain how meaning
values and intentionality can arise from that
t

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Beginning of modern Science Positivism

Positivism
2.1 Positivism
Positivism is a philosophical theory stating that certain ("positive") knowledge is based on
natural phenomena and their properties and relations. Thus, information derived from sensory
experience, interpreted through reason and logic, forms the exclusive source of all certain
knowledge. Positivism holds that valid knowledge (certitude or truth) is found only in this
knowledge. Verified data (positive facts) received from the senses are known as empirical
evidence; thus, positivism is based on empiricism.

Positivism also holds that society, like the physical world, operates according to general
laws. Introspective and intuitive knowledge is rejected, as are metaphysics and theology because
metaphysical and theological claims cannot be verified by sense experience. Although the
positivist approach has been a recurrent theme in the history of western thought, the modern
approach was formulated by the philosopher Auguste Comte in the early 19th century.

Comte argued that, much as the physical world operates according to gravity and other
absolute laws, so does society, and further developed positivism
into a Religion of Humanity.

2.2 Etymology
The English noun positivism was reimported in the 19th century from the French word
positivism, derived from posit if in its philosophical sense of 'imposed on the mind by experience'.
The corresponding adjective (lat. positives) has been used in a similar sense to discuss law (positive
law compared to natural law) since the time of Chaucer.

2.3 Positivists
Positivism asserts that all authentic knowledge allows verification and that all authentic
knowledge assumes that the only valid knowledge is scientific. Thinkers such as Henri de Saint-
Simon (1760–1825), Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827) and Auguste Comte (1798–857) believed
the scientific method, the circular dependence of theory and observation, must replace metaphysics
in the history of thought. Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) reformulated sociological

positivism as a foundation of social research. Wilhelm Dilthey (1833–1911), in contrast,

fought strenuously against the assumption that only explanations derived from science are valid.

He reprised the argument, already found in Vico, that scientific explanations do not reach
the inner nature of phenomena and it is humanistic knowledge that gives us insight into thoughts,
feelings and desires. Dilthey was in part influenced by the historicism of Leopold von Ranke
(1795–1886).

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Beginning of modern Science Positivism

2.4 Anti-positivism
At the turn of the 20th century the first wave of German sociologists, including Max Weber
and Georg Simmel, rejected the doctrine, thus founding the anti-positivist tradition in sociology.
Later Anti-positivists and critical theorists have associated positivism with "scientism"; science as

ideology. Later in his career (1969), German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg,
Nobel laureate for pioneering work in quantum mechanics, distanced himself from positivism by
saying:

The positivists have a simple solution: the world must be divided into that which we can
say clearly and the rest, which we had better pass over in silence. But can anyone conceive of a
more pointless philosophy, seeing that what we can say clearly amounts to next to nothing? If we
omitted all that is unclear, we would probably be left with completely uninteresting and trivial
tautologies.

2.5 Logical positivism and post-positivism

In the early 20th century, logical positivism a descendant of Comte's basic thesis but an
independent movement—sprang up in Vienna and grew to become one of the dominant schools in
Anglo-American philosophy and the analytic tradition.

Logical positivists (or 'neopositivists') rejected metaphysical speculation and attempted to

reduce statements and propositions to pure logic. Strong critiques of this approach by philosophers
such as Karl Popper, Willard Van Orman Quine and Thomas Kuhn have been highly influential,
and led to the development of Post-positivism.

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Beginning of modern Science Sensation

Sensation
3.1 Sensation
Sensation is an animal's, including humans',(possibly AI and Alien) detection of external
or internal stimulation (e.g., eyes detecting light waves, ears detecting sound waves). It is different
from perception, which is about making sense of, or describing, the stimulation (e.g., seeing a
chair, hearing a guitar). Sensation involves three steps:
1. Sensory receptors detect stimuli.

2. Sensory stimuli are transduced into electrical impulses (action potentials) to be decoded by the
brain.

3. Electrical impulses move along neural pathways to specific parts of the brain wherein the
impulses are decoded into useful information (perception).
For example,

when touched by a soft feather, mechanoreceptors – which are sensory receptors in the skin
– register that the skin has been touched. That sensory information is then turned into neural
information through a process called transduction. Next, the neural information travels down
neural pathways to the appropriate part of the brain, wherein the sensations are perceived as the
touch of a feather.

Children are often taught five basic senses: seeing (i.e., vision), hearing (i.e., audition),
tasting (i.e., gustation), smelling (i.e., olfaction), and touching. However, there are actually many
more senses including vestibular sense, kinesthetic sense, sense of thirst, sense of hunger, and
cutaneous sense.

3.2 Types of sensations

3.2.1 Visual
The wavelength, intensity and complexity of Light are detected by visual receptors in the
retina of the eye. There are two types of visual receptors: rods and cones. Rods are sensitive to dim
light, which makes them useful for seeing at night. Cones are more sensitive to color and bright
light, which makes them more useful in daylight.

Signals from rods and cones are transduced into useful neural information via the optic
nerve. Blindness is the complete or nearly complete inability to see.

3.2.2 Auditory
The frequency, intensity, and complexity of sounds waves in the external world are
detected by auditory receptors (cilia or hair cell receptors) in the ear.

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Beginning of modern Science Sensation

Different patterns of cilia movement lead to different neural codes, which ultimately lead
to hearing different loudness, pitch, and timbre of sounds. Deafness or hearing loss may occur in
one or both ears

3.3.3 Gustatory
Taste receptors (i.e., taste buds or papillae) are activated by the presence of food or another
object on the tongue. Four basic tastes include sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. There is some debate
on whether umami, or meatiness, is a fifth basic flavor.

Aging is associated with loss of intensity in taste. Complete inability to taste is called
ageusia.

3.3.4 Olfactory
Smells in the external world activate hair receptors in nostrils. These receptors then send
signals to the olfactory bulb, which is located at the base of the brain. Anosmia is the inability to
smell.

3.3.5 Somatosensory
Somatosensory sensations occur when receptors detect changes on one's skin or within
one's body.

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Beginning of modern Science Rationalization

Rationalization
4.1 Rationalization
In psychology and logic, rationalization or rationalization (also known as making
excuses) is a defense mechanism in which controversial behaviors or feelings are justified and
explained in a seemingly rational or logical manner to avoid the true explanation, and are made
consciously tolerable or even admirable and superior by plausible means.

It is also an informal fallacy of reasoning. In psychology and logic, rationalization or

rationalization (also known as making excuses) is a defense mechanism in which controversial
behaviors or feelings are justified and explained in a seemingly rational or logical manner to avoid
the true explanation, and are made consciously tolerable or even admirable and superior by
plausible means. It is also an informal fallacy of reasoning.

4.2 History
In the most favorable possible perspective. Laurence Sterne in the eighteenth century took
up the point, arguing that, were a man to consider his actions, "he will soon find, that such of them,
as strong inclination and custom have prompted him to commit, are generally dressed out and
painted with all the false beauties [color] which, a soft and flattering hand can give them".

4.3 Criticism
Some scientists criticize the notion that brains are wired to rationalize irrational decisions,
arguing that evolution would select against spending more nutrients at mental processes that do
not contribute to the improvement of decisions such as rationalization of decisions that would have
been taken anyway.

These scientists argue that learning from mistakes would be decreased rather than increased
by rationalization, and criticize the hypothesis that rationalization evolved as a means of social
manipulation by noting that if rational arguments were deceptive there would be no evolutionary
chance for breeding individuals that responded to the arguments and therefore making them
ineffective and not capable of being selected for by evolution.

Evidently, this view ignores the importance of rationalization in social contexts where it
plays a crucial role in maintaining the good will of other individuals and the group, on which
human beings depend for survival.

4.4 Psychoanalysis
Ernest Jones introduced the term "rationalization" to psychoanalysis in 1908, defining it as
"the inventing of a reason for an attitude or action the motive of which is not recognized" an
explanation which (though false) could seem plausible the term (in German) was taken up almost
immediately by Sigmund Freud to account for the explanations offered by patients for their own
neurotic symptoms As psychoanalysts continued to explore the glossed of unconscious motives,

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Beginning of modern Science Rationalization

Otto-Fenchol distinguished different sorts of rationalization—both the justifying of

irrational instinctive actions on the grounds that they were reasonable or normatively validated,

and the rationalizing of defensive structures, whose purpose is unknown on the grounds
that they have some quite different but somehow logical meaning. Later psychoanalysts are
divided between a positive view of rationalization as a stepping-stone on the way to maturity, and
a more destructive view of it as splitting feeling from thought, and so undermining the powers of
reason.

4.5 Cognitive dissonance

Leon Festinger highlighted in 1957 the discomfort caused people by awareness of
inconsistent thought. Rationalization can reduce such discomfort by explaining away the
discrepancy in question, as when people who take up smoking after previously quitting decide that
the evidence for it being harmful is less than they previously thought.

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Beginning of modern Science Romanticism and Existentialism

Romanticism and Existentialism

5.1 Introduction of Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century
Western Europe. A revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Enlightenment
period thought to be influenced by the ideologies and events of the French Revolution.

5.2 Origins of the Romantic Movement

The French Revolution (1789–1799) During this time, republicanism replaced the absolute
monarchy in France, and the country's Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo a radical
restructuring.

Socialism emerged – rejection of the ruling classes and a belief that people can govern themselves
Rousseau, often considered the first romanticist, was strongly influential in the socialist movement
and growth of nationalism. The Social Contract questioned the idea that people need government
and charged that the people should make the laws directly, rather than rulers

5.3 Romantic Nationalism

One of Romanticism's key ideas, which became a central theme of Romantic art and
political philosophy. Proposed that the state derives its political legitimacy from the unity of those
it governs, so that each nation had a unique individual quality that would be expressed in laws,
customs, language, logic, and the arts.

Led to the development of national languages, folklore, and a focus on local customs and
traditions.

5.4 The Napoleon Empire

Following the Revolution, the French Consulate was formed to rule the new Republic. In
1799, Napoleon, one of the three Consuls, drafted a constitution that made him First Consul and
essentially dictator.
He eventually crowned himself Emperor in 1804.In other words… republicanism is dead!
Over the course of little more than a decade, the armies of France under his command fought
almost every European power and acquired control of most of the western and central mainland of
Europe.

5.5 Romantics Response to Napoleon

Romantics had embraced the French Revolution in its beginnings, then found themselves fighting
the counter-Revolution in Napoleon’s dictatorship. Romantics used nationalism to resist against
the Napoleon Empire. Romantic nationalism helped areas conquered by Napoleon that lost their
independence to maintain a national identity.

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Beginning of modern Science Romanticism and Existentialism

Revival of ancient myths, customs and traditions by Romanticist poets and painters helped to
distinguish their indigenous cultures from those of the dominant nations.

5.6 Romanticism and the Arts

Music Growing use of folk music Heightened contrasts and emotions Music that tells a story
Conveys a sense of individuality and freedom Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Wagner

5.7 Romanticism and the Arts

Visual Arts and Lit Focused on emotion and dreams (vs. rationalism) in their works
Emergence of folk epics, legends, and fairy tales.

The concept of a national epic emerged an extensively mythologized, legendary work of

poetry of defining importance to a certain nation (e.g., Beowulf). Goethe, Mary Shelley, Lord
Byron, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne

5.8 Introduction to Existentialism

Existentialism emphasizes action, freedom, and decision as fundamental to human
existence. In the 19th century, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, the first philosophers considered
fundamental to the existentialist movement, realized that human nature and human identity vary
depending on what values and beliefs humans hold. Idea that human beings are have no choice to
come into existence. Being thrown into existence is the basis for any other thoughts or ideas that
humans have or definitions of themselves that they create.

How did I get into the world? Why was I not asked about it, why was I not informed of
the rules and regulations but just thrust into the ranks as if I had been bought by a peddling
shanghaied of human beings? How did I get involved in this big enterprise called actuality? Why
should I be involved? Isn't it a matter of choice? And if I am compelled to be involved, where is
the manager—I have something to say about this. Is there no manager? To whom shall I make
my complaint? – Kierkegaard

5.9 Sartre an Existentialism

Jean-Paul Sartre, emerging in the 20th century, is perhaps the most well-known
existentialist and is one of the few to have accepted being called an "existentialist”. Existence
precedes essence

This is a reversal of the Aristotle an premise that essence precedes existence, where man
is created to fulfill some goal. Sartre an existentialism argues man exists without purpose, finds
himself in the world and defines the meaning of his existence. Identities are constructed by the
individual consciousness only – Sartre argues that no one else, including God if he existed, can
choose your "identity" for you

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Beginning of modern Science Romanticism and Existentialism

5.10 Sartre an Existentialism

Values are subjective – Something is valuable because the individual consciousness chooses to
value it. There are no objective standards on which to base values.

Responsibility for choices – The individual consciousness is responsible for all the choices
he/she makes, regardless of the consequences. Sartre claims that to deny the responsibility is to be
in “bad faith”

Here, existentialists draw on psychological concepts to investigate feelings such as angst

and despair that arise by being in “bad faith”. Condemned to be free – Because our actions and
choices are ours and ours alone, we are condemned to be responsible for our free choices.

5.11 Existentialism and Psychology

Sigmund Freud was affected in many of his theories by Nietzsche. Existential psychology
initiated by Rollo May and Carl Rogers, both of whom were influenced by Kierkegaard. Anxiety’s
importance in existentialism makes it a popular topic in psychotherapy.

“Anxiety occurs because of a threat to the values a person identifies with his existence as
a self...most anxiety comes from a threat to social, emotional and moral values the person identifies
with himself.”

May Therapists using an existential approach believe that the patient can harness his or her
anxiety and use it constructively. Instead of suppressing anxiety, patients are advised to use it as
grounds for change. By embracing anxiety as inevitable, a person can use it to achieve his or her
full potential in life.

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Beginning of modern Science

Structuralism

6.1 Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920):

According to him, psychology is the study of consciousness. According to Wundt,
“Consciousness exists then it must have structure.”
Structuralism also focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components.
He said that mind work in this way.
For example:
If someone`s hand burns then overall experience is feeling of pain but before feeling the
pain to touch the fire, skin feels the fire then message is conveyed to brain for the pain.
If we read this separately then it would be a structuralist approach. His main goal was to
reveal the basic structure of consciousness. So, his approach was called structuralism.
Method:
Wundt described psychology as the science of consciousness. So, Wundt introduced the
method which is introspection.
Introspection:
According to him,
“Examination of one's own mental state is called introspection.”
He called it as internal perception. He distinguished between pure introspection, the relatively
unstructured self-observation used by earlier philosopher and experimental introspection which he
believed to be scientifically respectable.

6.2 Edward Bradford Titchener (1867-1927):

He was second contributor who presented the structuralism. He was an English man. He
studied in Germany and was student of Wilhelm Wundt. Then he worked in America and died
there.
Concept:
He said that psychology is the study of consciousness. Consciousness as the sum of our
experience as they exist at a given time. He also introduced the Element of consciousness:
Feeling:
A person feels in an event. There are many ideas in our mind. A person has many types
of emotion.
Types of Feelings:
There are three types of feelings.
• • Pleasant / unpleasant
• • Relaxed / lensed
• • Calm / exited

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According to Titchener, our ideas and images are related to each other.
Method:
The Titchener method of introspection was more complicated then Wundt. So, he trained
his subject in different ways.
He said,
“Introspection is self-observation.”
In this process, the involves looking inward to examine one's own thoughts and emotions. So, the
method remained alive. His studies focused mainly on sensation and perceptions because they
were the easiest processes to break down into components.
For Example:
In study, Titchener trained the subject and he identified four components of taste.
• • Bitter
• • Sweet
• • Salty
• • Sour
Criticism
Introspection cannot be regarded reliable objection and valid technique.
It is unable to cover all aspects of human behavior such as motivation and abnormal behavior, etc.

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Individual differences
7.1 Define:
Individual difference stand for the variation and deviation among individual in to a signle
characteristic or number of characteristic .
Individual differences as dissimilarity between person that distinguish them from one another

7.2 Types of individual differences:

There are different types of individual differences
 Physical differences:
Shortness or tallness of stature darkness or fairness of complexion fitness thinness or
weakness is various physical individual differences

 Differences in achievement:
These different in achievement are even visibal among the children who are at the same
level of intelligences these differences are on account of the children in the various factors of
intelligences and the differences in the various experiences interest and education background
 Differences in motor ability:
There are differences in motor ability these differences are visibal at different ages some
people can perform mechanical task easily while other even though they are at the same level feel
much difficulty to performing these tasks
 Differences due to nationality:
Differences of different nations differ in respect of physical and mental difference interests
and personality etc. Russians are tall and stout Germans have no sense of humour etc yellow races
are cruel and revengeful and Americans hearty and frank
 Emotional differences:
Individual differ in their emotional reaction to a particular situation some are irritable and
aggressive and they get angry very soon At an particular thing an individual may be so much
enraged that he may be prepared for the worst crime like murder while another person may be
laugh at it

7.3 Causes of individual differences:

There are various causes which are responsible in bringing individual differences
1. Heredity:
2. Environment
3. Sex
4. Age

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Beginning of modern Science

5. Education
6. Race and nationality
• Heredity:
Some heretical traits bring a change from one individual to other an individual height ,size
,shape and color of hair ,shape of face ,nose and legs so to say the entire structure of body is
determined by his heretical qualities
• Environment:
Environment bring individual differences in behavior ,activities ,attitude and style of life
characteristics personality .environment does not refer only physical surrounding but also it refer
the different types of people society there their culture customs tradition social heritage ,ideas
and ideas
• Sex:
Due to sex variation one individual differ from other Man are strong in mental
power On the other hand woman on the average show small superiority over men memory
,language and aesthetic sense Woman excel the men in shouldering social responsibilities
and have a better control over their emotion
• Age:
Age is another factor which is responsible in bringing individual differences Learning
ability and adjustment capacity naturally grow with age
• Education :
Education is one major factor which bring individual differences There is a wide gap
in the behavior of education and uneducated persons All traits of human being like social
emotional and intellectual are controlled and modifies through proper education
• Race and Nationality:
Race and nationality is one cause of individual differences India are very peace loving
Chinese are cruel and Americans are very frank due to race and nationality

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Beginning of modern Science

Brain function

8.1 Nervous system

The nervous system is a complex combination of cells that allows an organism to gain
information about what is going on inside and outside the body and to respond appropriately It
allow to learn and to react All parts of nervous system are interrelated ;for discussion purposes it
can be separated into following division and subdivisions
1. Central nervous system:
Brain and spinal cord are included in central nervous system
• Brain:
“Brain is the most complex structure in the known universe There are as many
individual cells in the brain as there are stars in our galaxy”
• Spinal cord:
“Spinal cord is a massive collection of neurons within the spinal column that looks like
a section of rope Spinal cord itself is located in the middle of the spinal column that reaches
from our lower back to high in our nick ,just below the nick “
2. Peripheral nervous system:
The peripheral nervous system is isolated from any direct contact with the outside
world Peripheral nervous system is the network of sensory and motor neurons that from the
inter face between the central nervous system and the surface of the body There are two types
of peripheral nervous system
• Somatic nervous system
This system is under voluntary control It control the skeletal muscles of the body
• Autonomic nervous system
It is the second part of peripheral nervous system it governs the activity, normally which
is not an individual control It must work even when the individual is asleep and it sustains life
processes during anesthesia and prolonged comma stages the autonomic nervous system is made
up of two parts
• Sympathetic division:
It deal with emergency ,excited or stressful conditions It is in control and active when we are
feeling emotions so it involves in states of emotionality
• Parasympathetic division

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Beginning of modern Science

It deal with internal monitoring and regulation of a variety of functions This system typically
influences activities related to the protection nourishment and growth of the body

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Beginning of modern Science

British empiricism
9.1 john locks
 introduction

John Locke (1632 - 1704) was an English philosopher of the Age of Reason and early Age of
Enlightenment. His ideas had enormous influence on the development
of Epistemology and Political Philosophy, and he is widely regarded as one of the most
influential early Enlightenment thinkers.
He is usually considered the first of the British Empiricists, the movement which included George
Berkeley and David Hume, and which provided the main opposition to the 17th Century
Continental Rationalists. He argued that all of our ideas are ultimately derived from experience, and
the knowledge of which we are capable is therefore severely limited in its scope and certainty.
His Philosophy of Mind is often cited as the origin for modern conceptions of identity and “the
self". He also postulated, contrary to Cartesian and Christian philosophy, that the mind was a "tabula
rasa" (or "blank slate") and that people are born without innate idea

 Life of john lock

Locke was born on 29 August 1632 in the small rural village of Wring ton, Somerset, England.
His father, also named John Locke, was a country lawyer and clerk to the Justices of the Peace in
the nearby town of Chew Magna, and had served as a captain of the cavalry for the Parliamentarian
forces during the early part of the English Civil War. His mother, Agnes Keene, was a tanner's
daughter and reputed to be very beautiful. Both parents were Puritans, and the family moved soon
after Locke's birth to the small market town of Pens ford, near Bristol.

9 2 George Berkeley

 Introduction
Bishop George Berkeley (1685 - 1753) was an Irish philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, best
known for his theory of Immaterialism, a type of Idealism (he is sometimes considered the father of
modern Idealism). Along with John Locke and David Hume, he is also a major figure in the British
Empiricism movement, although his Empiricism is of a much more radical kind, arising from his
mantra "to be is to be perceived".
He as a brilliant critic of his predecessors, particularly Descartes, Malebranche, Locke and Hobbes,
and a talented metaphysician capable of defending the apparently counter-intuitive theory of
Immaterialism. He also had some minor influence on the development
of mathematics (and calculus in particular).
 Life of George Berkeley

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George Berkeley (pronounced BARK-lee) was born on 12 March 1685 at his family home, Dysart
Castle, in County Kilkenny, southern Ireland. He was the eldest son of William Berkeley, a
member of the junior branch of the noble English family of Berkeley. He was educated at
LocalKilkenny College and then, in 1700, at Trinity College, Dublin, where he completed his
undergraduate degree in 1704, went on to become a Junior Fellow in 1707. He was ordained in the
Anglican Church in 1710, but he remained associated with Trinity College until 1724 (after
completing his doctorate, he became a Senior Fellow in 1717, and then became a tutor
and lecturer in Greek), although he was not continuously in residence.

9.3 David Hume

 Introduction
David Hume (1711 - 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, economist and historian of the Age
of Enlightenment. He was an important figure in the Scottish Enlightenment and, along with John
Locke and Bishop George Berkeley, one of the three main figureheads of the influential British
Empiricism movement.
He was a fierce opponent of the Rationalism of Descartes, Leibniz and Spinoza, as well as
an atheist and a skeptic. He has come to be considered as one of the most important British
philosophers of all time, and he was a huge influence on later philosophers, from Immanuel
Kant and Arthur Schopenhauer to the Logical Positivists and Analytic Philosophers of the 20th
Century, as well as on intellectuals in other fields (includingAlbert Einstein, who claimed to have
been inspired by Hume's skepticism of the established order).
Even today, Hume’s philosophical remains refreshingly modern, challenging andprovocative. In
later life, however, he largely turned away from philosophy in favor ofeconomics and his other
great love, history, and it was only then that he achievedrecognition in his own lifetime.

 Life of David Hume

Hume was born on 26 April 1711 in a tenement on the Lawnmarket in Edinburgh, Scotland.
His father was Joseph Home (an advocate or barrister of Chirnside, Berwickshire, Scotland), and
the aristocrat Katherine Lady Falconer. He changed his name to Hume in 1734 because the English
had difficulty pronouncing "Home" in the Scottish manner.
He was well read, even as a child, and had a good grounding in Greek and Latin. He
attended the University of Edinburgh at the unusually early age of twelve (possibly as young as
ten), although he had little respect for the professors there and soon threw over a prospective career
in law in favor of philosophy and general learning. At the tender age of eighteen, he made a great
"philosophical discovery" (which remains somewhat unexplained and mysterious) that led him to
devote the next ten years of his life to a concentrated period of study, reading and writing, almost
to the verge of a nervous breakdown.

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