how did rationalism contribute to the history of psychology?

-- marie lyons (marieclyons@hotmail.com), May 10, 2004

Answers

Rationalism comes in many forms. Inasmuch as the psychological theories of figures such as Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, and Kant were influential on psychology, so was rationalism(s of various sorts).

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), May 10, 2004.

Hi Marie, I am not a philosopher, but I will share some of my thoughts on your question. While there are various forms of rationalism and aspects of them are still debated today, I think we can make the generalization that they made a significant contribution to psychology and much of modern thinking. I think of rationalism and several other perspectives (e.g., empiricism, mechanism, etc.) as having helped lead us to more critical thinking, characteristic of modern psychology and science in general. This is not to imply that contemporary psychology is monolithic or that philosophical debates are over in psychology. More specifically, I think rationalism helped us develop a strong confidence in our ability to reason things out and it also helped us recognize that some thoughts and activities are highly prepared (i.e., partly preprogrammed or "instinctive"). For example, around the world, almost everyone of a particular age is likely to have certain thoughts in common. When I think of the influence of rationalism on psychology, I particularly think of cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and evolutionary psychology. However, probably all areas of psychology have been influenced by rationalistic philosophy. I hope this helps. Paul

-- Paul Kleinginna (pkleinginna@georgiasouthern.edu), May 11, 2004.