Psych 397 Chapter 3

A facility purchased by Plato by a park named Academeca in Athens. Plato taught students at this facility, which became known as the Academy. The Academy flourished during Plato's life and for hundred of years after his death.

One of the first Greek philosophers to emphasize the importance of balance to health.

Possibly a historical figure, but the name comes from the Greek mythical God Asclepius, son of Apollo. Asclepius was a great physician who, in Greek mythology, was killed by Zeus because he sinned by raising a man from the dead. Many temples were built in honor of Asclepius.

Early Greek physician who worked around 500 BCE. He advocated an empirical rational, and naturalistic approach to medicine. One of the first to practice dissection.

Greek scientist and philosopher and one of the first to advance a theory of organic evolution.

A cosmologist who taught that air is the primal substance and that this substance is transformed into other things through condensation and rarefaction.

Daughter of Aristippus and head of the school of philosophy at Cyrene following the death of Aristippus.

Student of Socrates who headed the school of Cyrene following the death of Socrates.

The pupil of Plato and one of the great philosophers who is especially noteworthy for his work in physics, biology, and psychology. Aristotle also founded logic and set forth an original and comprehensive view of causality.

Holy book of the Zoroastrian religion.

Well-known early Chinese philosopher interested primarily in the moral life with a focus on methods that promote personal and interpersonal harmony.

Refined the atomic theory set forth earlier by the philosopher Leucippus. Taught that reality was based on atoms and the void. Atoms were thought to be indivisible and invisible. Their basic structures accounted for the nature of the observable material world.

Early homeostatic theorist who taught that four basic elements (air, earth, fire and water) combine with two first principles (love and strife). Love unites and organizes, whereas strife results in disintegration and disorganization.

A metaphor employed by Plato to convey the idea that the soul can sometimes apprehend true reality.

Probably active around 480 BCE. Heraclitus was the first process philosopher. Emphasized the idea that only change is real.

Sometimes regarded as the Father of Greek Medicine, Hippocrates advanced a thoroughgoing naturalistic account of all illness, both physical and mental. Advanced the first classification system of mental disorders.

An early Chinese philosopher who advanced a thoroughgoing naturalistic philosophy. He is sometimes viewed as the Chinese Aristotle.

A mind-body position advanced by Aristotle, comes form hule meaning matter and morphe meaning form. Aristotle stressed the interdependence of matter and form. Thus, seeing as a mental process cannot be separated from the physical structure of the eyes.

Greek philosopher who lived around 500BCE. He was the founder of atomic theory later refined by Democritus.

A school near Athens founded by Aristotle

Daughter of Pythagoras and Theana. One of the first to give advice on child rearing.

Early philosopher who did his work shortly after 500BCE. He was one of the first to attempt to distinguish between appearance and reality. According to Parmenides, the sense reveal only appearances, whereas reason leads to real truths. In contracts with Heraclitus, Parmenides emphasized a philosophy of being as opposed to a philosophy of becoming.

A term likely coined by Pythagoras from philo meaning love and sophia meaning knowledge or wisdom. Hence the love of wisdom.

The student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle. One of the great philosophers of all time remembered, among other things, for his emphasis on the importance of reason as a means of discerning the formal abstract nature of truth. Advanced an early conflict model of mental illness and speculated on numerous psychological topics such as memory and sensation.

A sophist (teacher) who emphasized the doctrine of relativism. Protagoras argued that the world is conditioned by our senses and hence truth is relative.

The Greek term for soul or mind. Includes mental processes such as thought, memory, sensation and perception.

An enduring figure in Western intellectual history who did his work around 570 BCE. He is remembered for his emphasis on the importance of quantification and for specific contributions such as the famous Pythagorean theorem. His beliefs in the primacy of reason and the nature of the soul were influential later in the work of Socrates and Plato.

The doctrine that knowledge is not absolute; rather, it is a product of human mental processes with all their inherent limitations. Thus, according to the position, truths change as a function of time, place, and circumstance.

Teacher of Plato and so important in Greek thought that all philosophy before him is called pre-Socratic. He reacted against the relativism of Protagoras and taught that reason is the basis of true knowledge. He emphasized the importance of self-knowledge and is this an important figure in the history of psychological thought.

A type of teacher in ancient Greece. The sophists often emphasized relativism and how to live successfully. They often offered plausible but fallacious arguments. Hence, terms such as sophistry and sophistic refer to arguments that appear to be sound but are later found to be superficial or fallacious.

An early Greek cosmologist active around 600 BCE. Thales was known for his contention that water is the primordial substance. He was also interested in the problem of movement and the nature of motive forces that make movement possible.

An accomplished philosopher and wife of Pythagoras who played a key role in the educational activities of the Pythagorean school.

Succeeded Aristotle at the Lyceum. Extended many of Aristotle's ideas but emphasized material and efficient causes. He is sometimes regarded as the Father of Botany.

According to Plato, there are universal and true principles comprehended through reason. For example, the senses reveal only particular triangles, but reason reveals the principles of of triangularity. A goal of education is to uncover the true formal properties of things.

Vedic treatises dealing with philosophical and pscyhological matters. See Vedas

Oldest sacred book of India setting forth many ideas of psychological matters.

An early Greek philosopher remembered for his epistemological skepticism. He argued that human beings do not have certain knowledge and he scoffed at anthropomorphic concepts of deity.

Ancient Chinese concept representing qualities such as force, hardness, masculinity and heat. Contrasts with but also compliments Yin.

Ancient Chinese concept representing qualities such as softness, coldness, passivity and moistness. Contrasts with but also compliments Yang.

Major prophet of the Zoroastrian religion.

See Avesta.

Active around 450 BCE, Zeno was a follower of Parmenides. He is remembered for paradoxes that supposedly revealed contradictions between reason and the senses. His paradoxes of motion are particularly noteworthy. For example, an arrow on its way toward a target presents a certain paradox. It must first travel half the distance, but then it must travel half the remaining distance. Because Zeno thought it is possible to divide forever, the arrow should never reach it's target.