History of Psychology/Philosophy

History of Psychology Philosophy
Student’s name
Institution
History of Psychology Philosophy
Psychology cannot be reduced to physiology. However, they both relate in the sense that physiological psychology forms a subfield of psychology which majorly focuses on the behavioral effects of physiology. That is, it is more concerned on how biology and genetics affect memory, emotional response states of consciousness, mental illness as well as sensory perception. Conversely, physiology is the best psychology, the answer on how human mind operates can only be found in human physiology. Thought experiment and behavior studies are designed with intention of understanding the mechanism of the brain and this is physiology although indirect. This does not imply that language and thus cultures are not critical. However, they can only be best explained in the context of evolution which has evolved from psychological principles.
The establishment of psychology as a science separate from philosophy and biology raised debate on how to explain and describe human behavior and mind. During this time the first major schools of psychology to emerge were structuralism and functionalism (Chung, & Hyland, 2011). Structuralism majorly focused on breaking down the mental processes into simple components. Introspection was the method researchers tried to use to understand the basic components of consciousness. On the other hand, functionalism was established as a form of reaction to structuralism. Functionalist sought to describe and explain mental processes inaccurate and more systematic manner.

This implies that functionalist majorly focused on the purpose of behavior and conscious. Although the two were the first schools of thought in psychology eventually they are not relevant today as they all lost dominance in the school psychology and were replaced by other theories such as behaviorism, psychoanalysis, and humanism. All these theories attempt to theoretically study the root of human behavior.
In regards to whether human have free will there exist a collision between two opposing points of view that are equally valid. From metaphysical perspective if humans don’t have free will why then do we live? In real sense could life be important if one cannot choose his or her own paths? On the other hand, the scientific perspective contradicts in that everything that occurs must have a cause. Skinner and Freund agree that the behavior of human is determined by things outside or within a person. Skinner (2011) emphasizes on environmental contingencies while Freund emphasizes on unconscious conflict as the main causes of behavior (Nye, 2000). Either way, human do not have free will. Most events in our lives are determined by the prior experience of other events including what happens in the brain and hence, free will cannot exist.
The determinism suggests that human behaviors are caused by preceding factors. Therefore, they are predictable (Riley, & Turvey, 2002). Freedom is the idea that humans have some choice of actions thus assume that we are self-determined. For instance, one can make a free choice whether to take part in crime or not. However, this does not imply that human behaviors are random rather one is free from causal influence based on the past event. All psychologist who bases their argument from the perspective of free will suggest that determinism devalues human behavior and removes dignity and freedom. Deterministic psychology creates general laws of behaviors and thus it undermines the human freedom to their own destiny and uniqueness of each person. Behavior explanations presented by deterministic psychology reduces the responsibility of a person. For instance, a person arrested for violent conduct may plead they don’t bear responsibility for their behaviors it was due to their background setting or any other psychiatric problem and hence, their conduct was determined (Chung, & Hyland, 2011). From the above discussion, free will and deterministic approach may not be appropriate in studying moral responsibility as well as personal freedom.
References
Chung, M. C., & Hyland, M. E. (2011). History and philosophy of psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
Nye, R. D. (2000). Three psychologies: perspectives from Freud, Skinner, and Rogers. Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Riley, M. A., & Turvey, M. T. (2002). Variability and determinism in motor behavior. Journal of motor behavior, 34(2), 99-125.
Skinner, B. F. (2011). About Behaviorism. Vintage.