Sample Essays  Exam 1 PS410

 

  1. In 1879 Wundt founded a discipline called psychology. What did he intend it to be, and why was he so concerned about the issue of “science?”

 

  1. Briefly describe the philosophical positions that were labeled as “mechanist” and “organismic.” Describe specifically the 4 potential causal explanations for human behavior. How does the application of those causes relate to the rationale Wundt used to justify the “founding” of the discipline he called psychology?

 

  1. You are sitting with your good friend Tom Aquinas and discussing his plans to publish a forthcoming paper outlining his understanding of Aristotle in the context of scholasticism. You are a flaming rationalist. What would you say to Tom publicly, and what would you say privately? How are the two different (if they are), and why? How would the philosophers of the early renaissance react to Aquinas’ ideas about Aristotle?