In this assignment, one will focus on the debate between the personalistic and naturalistic position in scientific history. One will also discuss the concept of zeitgeist and how it relates to both, personalistic and naturalistic. In addition, one will attempt to apply each concept to the philosophical viewpoints that originally preceded the emergence of modern day psychology.
The history of Psychology dates as far back as the 19 century. From the beginning, psychologists have been curious about the human mind, how it works and what effects it can have on an individual thoughts and behavior. However, for one to fully understand the history of psychology, he or she must first understand the history of philosophy. Early philosophers have made many important contributions to the field of psychology. In early science, philosophers studied the human mind and body and believed that it played a major role in human behavior.
Although philosophy and psychology have different meaning, they are relatively close in association. Philosophy is the discipline in regards to how individuals think about things, and psychology is the
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Although the personalistic theory has its advantage, it is not sufficient enough alone to explain the history and development of science. As we seek to understand the history of personalistic and naturalistic approach in the history of psychology, one must understand the context in which the discipline developed the existing ideas in the science and culture of modern day, the zeitgeist or intellectual climate of the modern times as well as the current social, economic, and political process. Therefore, Boring (1950) main focus and contributions involved his ongoing analysis of the personalistic and naturalistic approach to the scientific history of