Early Philosophy and
Religion
These early philosophers laid the
groundwork towards creating a scientific study of the mind.
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___--Avicenna--____________________________--Aquinas--_
-----Abelard----- ---Occam----__________________________________________________________________________________________
Especially influential in medicine
Determined that there were 7 internal senses
Used the dialectic method à pit questions against each other
Realism: Universals/ essences exist
Nominalism: Universals are simply labels
Conceptualism: Universals don’t exist, similarities do
Reason and faith are not incompatible
Fought to incorporate Aristotle into Christianity
Made possible philosophy without religion
Keep explanations as simple as possible: Occam’s razor
How does the mind classify experience?
-we habitually respond to similar things in a similar way