48
Lectures
30
minutes/lecture
1.
Defining the Subject
Is psychology really science at all? A look at the controversy that has engulfed psychology for centuries.
1.
Defining the Subject
|
25.
Psychobiology—Nineteenth-Century Foundations
What is the relationship between physical and mental processes? A look at how researches have answered the question, including the strange system of phrenology and its role in the foundation of modern "brain science."
25.
Psychobiology—Nineteenth-Century Foundations
|
2.
Ancient Foundations—Greek Philosophers and Physicians
The ancient philosophers—in wrestling with the problems of knowledge, good and evil, governance, and how mankind should live—lay the foundations for the discipline of psychology.
2.
Ancient Foundations—Greek Philosophers and Physicians
|
26.
Language and the Brain
Injuries to the brain—and resulting functional deficits—have taught us a great deal about brain function and organization, especially regarding the way language is processed.
26.
Language and the Brain
|
3.
Minds Possessed—Witchery and the Search for Explanations
A look at how abnormal conduct—whether considered insanity or the act of a "witch"—has attracted society's special attention, sometimes with horrifying consequences.
3.
Minds Possessed—Witchery and the Search for Explanations
|
27.
Rationality, Problem-Solving, and Brain Function
A continuing examination of the workings of the brain, including the organ's remarkable ability to compensate for damage early in development.
27.
Rationality, Problem-Solving, and Brain Function
|
4.
The Emergence of Modern Science—Locke's “Newtonian” Theory of Mind
A new emphasis on experimental investigation produces great achievements in natural science and technology, as well as insistent questions about whether the same methods can explain the workings of the mind and society.
4.
The Emergence of Modern Science—Locke's “Newtonian” Theory of Mind
|
28.
The "Emotional" Brain—The Limbic System
Pleasure. Pain. Motivation. Rage. Fear. What we know about the fascinating part of the brain associated with these and other emotional states.
28.
The "Emotional" Brain—The Limbic System
|
5.
Three Enduring “Isms”—Empiricism, Rationalism, Materialism
An examination of the great debate over how knowledge and belief come to be and what this means for the definition of psychology.
5.
Three Enduring “Isms”—Empiricism, Rationalism, Materialism
|
29.
Violence and the Brain
Is criminality really a pathology better understood in scientific than in moral terms? Is insanity truly a defense?
29.
Violence and the Brain
|
6.
Sensation and Perception
An introduction to the methods by which sensation and perception are investigated and measure, including an introduction to the science and psychophysics.
6.
Sensation and Perception
|
30.
Psychopathology—The Medical Model
Is all psychopathology, all "mental" illness, ultimately the consequence of a medical or biological disturbance? A look at this viewpoint and the criticisms it has faced.
30.
Psychopathology—The Medical Model
|
7.
The Visual Process
One of the more scientific sides of experimental psychology is revealed in this look at the discipline's most studied and best known system—a true miracle of organization and function.
7.
The Visual Process
|
31.
Artificial Intelligence and the Neurocognitive Revolution
Yes, computer programs can now contend with world-class chess players—to a point. But can computers be made to actually think? A beginning discussion of the pros and cons, along with the staggering ethical implications.
31.
Artificial Intelligence and the Neurocognitive Revolution
|
8.
Hearing
A look at another of the body's most acute senses—and the threats posed to this complex and delicate system by the constant auditory assault of 20th-century industrial and urban life.
8.
Hearing
|
32.
Is Artificial Intelligence "Intelligent"?
Do the proponents of artificial intelligence understand what "intelligence" really is? Many say no.
32.
Is Artificial Intelligence "Intelligent"?
|
9.
Signal-Detection Theory
The more difficult a discrimination or detection task is, the harder it is to measure. A look at how signal-detection theory is providing answers, especially in the particularly difficult area of measuring perception.
9.
Signal-Detection Theory
|
33.
What Makes an Event "Social"?
Why a purely scientific examination of events involving people is impossible—and how researches have developed the kind of model necessary to interpret the meaning of these social events.
33.
What Makes an Event "Social"?
|
10.
Perceptual Constancies and Illusions
Can we really trust our senses? A surprising look at how knowledge and perception work together.
10.
Perceptual Constancies and Illusions
|
34.
Socialization—Darwin and the "Natural History" Method
How we examine a species within its own natural context, accounting for its defining features by matching these with the conditions faced by members of the species.
34.
Socialization—Darwin and the "Natural History" Method
|
11.
Learning and Memory: Associationism—Aristotle to Ebbinghaus
A first look at the fascinating area of memory and how it works, including an introduction to the use of "mnemonics."
11.
Learning and Memory: Associationism—Aristotle to Ebbinghaus
|
35.
Freud's Debt to Darwin
Darwin's works are among the most "well-worked-over" in Freud's restored London library. This lecture explores the influence of the world's most famous naturalist on its most famous psychiatrist.
35.
Freud's Debt to Darwin
|
12.
Pavlov and the Conditioned Reflex
The famous "salivating dog" experiments were a harbinger of the behaviorist era to come but went well beyond what we learned about in school.
12.
Pavlov and the Conditioned Reflex
|
36.
Freud, Breuer, and the Theory of Repression
Hysterical symptoms are unlike those produced by genuine neurological disorders. This lecture discusses the discovery of the "talking cure" and how it led to Freud and Breuer's theory of repression.
36.
Freud, Breuer, and the Theory of Repression
|
13.
Watson and American Behaviorism
An impatient crusader casts his vote for a pragmatic and scientific psychology confined to observable behavior.
13.
Watson and American Behaviorism
|
37.
Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development
Freud's explanation of psychosexual development as the individual's progression from infantile stages of sexual gratification—such as thumb-sucking—to adult heterosexual activity.
37.
Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development
|
14.
B.F. Skinner and Modern Behaviorism
A first look at one of the most influential and controversial psychologists of our time and his theory of conditioning human response.
14.
B.F. Skinner and Modern Behaviorism
|
38.
Critiques of Freudian Theory
Freud believed that psychodynamic processes are universal and largely independent of culture and society, but his biological interpretation has been rejected in favor of socially and culturally oriented theories.
38.
Critiques of Freudian Theory
|
15.
B.F. Skinner and the Engineering of Society
Skinner's theories as the model for completely changing child-rearing, education, behavior, and ultimately, society itself.
15.
B.F. Skinner and the Engineering of Society
|
39.
What Is "Personality"?
The question has still not been answered definitively and has furnished the grist for many since-refuted theories. This lecture examines the debate.
39.
What Is "Personality"?
|
16.
Language
Skinner publishes his theory of language and the resulting critique, led by the then-unknown Noam Chomsky, points the way toward a more "cognitive" interpretation of psychology.
16.
Language
|
40.
Obedience and Conformity
Several classic experiments have shown the powerful influence of social context on conduct and have offered a strong challenge to both the dominant theories of personality.
40.
Obedience and Conformity
|
17.
The Integration of Experience
For most developed species, survival requires more than passive absorption of disconnected stimuli. An examination of how experience is organized to help creatures actually live.
17.
The Integration of Experience
|
41.
Altruism
Why do some people act heroically? Once again, social context proves critical in determining human behavior, though a highly developed self-perception can help a person rise above the common in unlikely circumstances.
41.
Altruism
|
18.
Perception and Attention
If perception weren't selective, we would drown in an unending flood of stimuli. A look at how we filter the input from the outside world down to what is important.
18.
Perception and Attention
|
42.
Prejudice and Self-Deception
Acts of prejudice call for a reinterpretation of context and even a reinterpretation of self to justify the action. An exploration of the darker side of human behavior.
42.
Prejudice and Self-Deception
|
19.
Cognitive "Maps," "Insight," and Animal Minds
Is man the only animal that can think? A fascinating glimpse of both sides of the argument over anthropomorphic explanations suggest a surprising answer.
19.
Cognitive "Maps," "Insight," and Animal Minds
|
43.
On Being Sane in Insane Places
What is sanity? What is insanity? As a chilling study demonstrates, the answers often depend on who is controlling the labels.
43.
On Being Sane in Insane Places
|
20.
Memory Revisited—Mnemonics and Context
A return to the subject of memory for a deeper discussion of how we process, store, and recover experience, including the problem of "eyewitness" testimony and reconstructed memories.
20.
Memory Revisited—Mnemonics and Context
|
44.
Intelligence
The history of I.Q. and other so-called "intelligence" tests offer valuable lessons in what is and is not "predictable."
44.
Intelligence
|
21.
Piaget's Stage Theory of Cognitive Development
A search for an explanation of how our mental powers are formed leads to the influential work of Jean Piaget and his theories of cognitive development in children.
21.
Piaget's Stage Theory of Cognitive Development
|
45.
Personality Traits and the Problem of Assessment
Is there really a test that can reveal the "underlying personality" of an individual? A look at the fundamental problem of devising such a measuring stick.
45.
Personality Traits and the Problem of Assessment
|
22.
The Development of Moral Reasoning
Is moral development different from cognitive development as a whole? An examination of what we know about how moral reasoning evolves.
22.
The Development of Moral Reasoning
|
46.
Genetic Psychology and "The Bell Curve"
The issue of whether a given trait is rooted in genetics or the environment—long a controversial issues in the public arena—is when predicting the potential of an individual.
46.
Genetic Psychology and "The Bell Curve"
|
23.
Knowledge, Thinking, and Understanding
How we solve problems—how we actually function in our daily lives—including the essential psychological short-cut that makes the process possible.
23.
Knowledge, Thinking, and Understanding
|
47.
Psychological and Biological Determinism
An exploration of the notion of determinism reveals it to be both counterintuitive and, in some respects, self-refuting.
47.
Psychological and Biological Determinism
|
24.
Comprehanding the World of Experience—Cognition Summarized
A summary of the finding that laid the foundation for the "cognitive revolution's" alternative to the empiricistic psychologies favored by the behaviorist school.
24.
Comprehanding the World of Experience—Cognition Summarized
|
48.
Civic Development—Psychology, the Person, and the Polis
In many ways, the fullest and most systematic theories of psychology are still those provided by Aristotle. An exploration of how rational creatures can flourish when the biological, social, and political are truly integrated.
48.
Civic Development—Psychology, the Person, and the Polis
|
60
Lectures
30
minutes/lecture
1.
From the Upanishads to Homer
Before ancient Greek civilization, the world hosted deep insights into the human condition but offered little critical reflection. Homer planted the seeds of this reflection.
1.
From the Upanishads to Homer
|
31.
Hume and the Pursuit of Happiness
David Hume was perhaps the most influential philosopher to write in English, carrying empiricism to its logical end and thus grounding morality, truth, causation, and governance in experience.
31.
Hume and the Pursuit of Happiness
|
2.
Philosophy—Did the Greeks Invent It?
The ancient Greeks were the first to objectify the products of their own thought and feeling and be willing to subject both to critical scrutiny. Why?
2.
Philosophy—Did the Greeks Invent It?
|
32.
Thomas Reid and the Scottish School
Thomas Reid was Hume's most successful and influential critic, with a common sense psychology that was both naturalistic and compatible with religious teaching and which reached America's founders.
32.
Thomas Reid and the Scottish School
|
3.
Pythagoras and the Divinity of Number
How can we comprehend the very integrity of the universe and our place within it, if not by way of the most abstract relations?
3.
Pythagoras and the Divinity of Number
|
33.
France and the Philosophes
The leading French thinkers of the 18th century—Voltaire, Rousseau, Condorcet, and Diderot—appealed directly to the ordinary citizen, encouraging skepticism toward traditional authority.
33.
France and the Philosophes
|
4.
What Is There?
How many kinds of stuff make up the cosmos? Might everything, in fact, be reducible to one kind of thing?
4.
What Is There?
|
34.
The Federalist Papers and the Great Experiment
The extraordinary documents written in support of the proposed constitution represent a profound legacy in political philosophy.
34.
The Federalist Papers and the Great Experiment
|
5.
The Greek Tragedians on Man’s Fate
The ancient philosophers were only part of the rich community of thought and wonder that surrounded the world's first great dramatists and their landmark depth psychologies.
5.
The Greek Tragedians on Man’s Fate
|
35.
What Is Enlightenment? Kant on Freedom
Here the limits of reason and the very framework of thought complete—and in another respect undermine—the very project of the Enlightenment.
35.
What Is Enlightenment? Kant on Freedom
|
6.
Herodotus and the Lamp of History
Can history actually teach us? Herodotus looked at what he took to be certain universal human aspirations and deficiencies and concluded that indeed history could.
6.
Herodotus and the Lamp of History
|
36.
Moral Science and the Natural World
Kant traced the implications of a human life as lived in both the natural world of causality and the intelligible world of reason (where morality arises).
36.
Moral Science and the Natural World
|
7.
Socrates on the Examined Life
Rhetoric wins arguments, but it is philosophy that shows us the way to our humanity.
7.
Socrates on the Examined Life
|
37.
Phrenology—A Science of the Mind
In founding the now-discredited theory of phrenology, Franz Gall nevertheless helped define today's brain sciences.
37.
Phrenology—A Science of the Mind
|
8.
Plato's Search For Truth
If one knows what one is looking for, why is a search necessary? And if one doesn't know, how is that search even possible? Socrates versus the Sophists.
8.
Plato's Search For Truth
|
38.
The Idea of Freedom
The idea of freedom developed by Goethe, Schiller, and other romantic idealists forms a central chapter in the Long Debate over whether or not science has overstepped its bounds.
38.
The Idea of Freedom
|
9.
Can Virtue Be Taught?
If virtue can be taught, whose virtue will it be? A look at the Socratic recognition of multiculturalism and moral relativism.
9.
Can Virtue Be Taught?
|
39.
The Hegelians and History
Hegel's Reason in History and other works inspired a transcendentalist movement that spanned Europe, Great Britain, and the United States.
39.
The Hegelians and History
|
10.
Plato's Republic—Man Writ Large
This most famous of Plato's dialogues begins with the metaphor—or perhaps the reality—of the polis (community) as the expanded version of the person, with the fate of each inextricably bound to that of the other.
10.
Plato's Republic—Man Writ Large
|
40.
The Aesthetic Movement—Genius
By the second half of the 19th century, the House of Intellect was divided between two competing perspectives: the growing aesthetic concept of reality and the narrowing scientific view.
40.
The Aesthetic Movement—Genius
|
11.
Hippocrates and the Science of Life
Hippocratic medicine did much to demystify the human condition and the natural factors that affect it.
11.
Hippocrates and the Science of Life
|
41.
Nietzsche at the Twilight
A student of the classics, Nietzsche came to regard the human condition as fatally tied to needs and motives that operate at the most powerful levels of existence.
41.
Nietzsche at the Twilight
|
12.
Aristotle on the Knowable
Smith knows that a particular triangle contains 180 degrees because he has measured it, while Jones knows it by definition. But do they know the same thing?
12.
Aristotle on the Knowable
|
42.
The Liberal Tradition—J. S. Mill
When can the state or the majority legitimately exercise power over the actions of individuals? The modern liberal answer is set forth in the work of Mill, an almost unchallenged authority for more than a century.
42.
The Liberal Tradition—J. S. Mill
|
13.
Aristotle on Friendship
If true friendship is possible only between equals, how equal must they be—and with respect to what?
13.
Aristotle on Friendship
|
43.
Darwin and Nature’s “Purposes”
From social Darwinism to sociobiology, the evolutionary science of the late 18th and 19th centuries dominates social thought and political initiatives.
43.
Darwin and Nature’s “Purposes”
|
14.
Aristotle on the Perfect Life
What sort of life is right for humankind, and what is it about us that makes this so?
14.
Aristotle on the Perfect Life
|
44.
Marxism—Dead But Not Forgotten
After years of influence, the Marxist critique of society is now more a subtext than a guiding bible of reform.
44.
Marxism—Dead But Not Forgotten
|
15.
Rome, the Stoics, and the Rule of Law
The Stoics found in language something that would separate humanity from the animate realm, and that gave Rome a philosophy to civilize the world.
15.
Rome, the Stoics, and the Rule of Law
|
45.
The Freudian World
Marx, Darwin, and Freud are the chief 19th-century architects of modern thought about society and self—each was nominally "scientific" in approach and believed their theories to be grounded in the realm of observable facts.
45.
The Freudian World
|
16.
The Stoic Bridge to Christianity
The Jewish Christians, Hellenized or Orthodox, defended a monotheistic source of law.
16.
The Stoic Bridge to Christianity
|
46.
The Radical William James
Mortally opposed to all "block universes" of certainty and theoretical hubris, James offered a quintessentially home-grown psychology of experience.
46.
The Radical William James
|
17.
Roman Law—Making a City of the Once-Wide World
Roman development of law based on a conception of nature, and of human nature, is one of the signal achievements in the history of civilization.
17.
Roman Law—Making a City of the Once-Wide World
|
47.
William James's Pragmatism
Working in the realm of common sense, James directed the attention of philosophy and science to that ultimate arena of confirmation in which our deepest and most enduring interests are found.
47.
William James's Pragmatism
|
18.
The Light Within—Augustine on Human Nature
Thoughts and ideas from the fathers of the early Christian Church culminated in St. Augustine, who explores humanity's capacity for good and evil.
18.
The Light Within—Augustine on Human Nature
|
48.
Wittgenstein and the Discursive Turn
Meaning arises from conventions that presuppose not only a social world but a world in which we share the interests and aspirations of others.
48.
Wittgenstein and the Discursive Turn
|
19.
Islam
What did the Prophet teach that so moved the masses? And how did the Western world come to understand the threat embodied in these Eastern "heresies"?
19.
Islam
|
49.
Alan Turing in the Forest of Wisdom
Turing is famous for breaking Germany's famed World War II Enigma code, but, as a founder of modern computational science, he also wrote influentially about the possibilities of breaking the mind's code.
49.
Alan Turing in the Forest of Wisdom
|
20.
Secular Knowledge—The Idea of University
Apart from trade schools devoted to medicine and law, the university as we know it did not come into being until 12th-century Paris.
20.
Secular Knowledge—The Idea of University
|
50.
Four Theories of the Good Life
The contemplative. The active. The fatalistic. The hedonistic. There are good but limited arguments for each of these.
50.
Four Theories of the Good Life
|
21.
The Reappearance of Experimental Science
There were really two great renaissances. The first occurred at Oxford in the 13th century: the recovery of experimental inquiry by Roger Bacon and others.
21.
The Reappearance of Experimental Science
|
51.
Ontology—What There "Really" Is
From the Greek ontos, there is a branch of metaphysics referred to as ontology, devoted to the question of "real being." Ontological controversies have broad ethical and social implications.
51.
Ontology—What There "Really" Is
|
22.
Scholasticism and the Theory of Natural Law
Thomas Aquinas's treatises on law would stand for centuries as the foundation of critical inquiry in jurisprudence.
22.
Scholasticism and the Theory of Natural Law
|
52.
Philosophy of Science—The Last Word?
Should fundamental questions, if they are to be answered with precision and objectivity, be answered by science? We consider Thomas Kuhn's influential treatise on scientific revolutions.
52.
Philosophy of Science—The Last Word?
|
23.
The Renaissance—Was There One?
From Petrarch in the south to Erasmus in the north, Humanistic thought collided with those seeking to defend faith.
23.
The Renaissance—Was There One?
|
53.
Philosophy of Psychology and Related Confusions
Psychology is a subject of many and varied interests but narrow modes of inquiry. Today cognitive neuroscience is the dominant approach, but other schools have reappeared.
53.
Philosophy of Psychology and Related Confusions
|
24.
Let Us Burn the Witches to Save Them
Even in the time we honor with the title of Renaissance ran an undercurrent of a heady and ominous mixture of natural magic, natural science, and cruel superstition.
24.
Let Us Burn the Witches to Save Them
|
54.
Philosophy of Mind, If There Is One
The principal grounds of disagreement within the wide-ranging subject of philosophy of mind center on whether the right framework for considering issues is provided by developed sciences or humanistic frameworks.
54.
Philosophy of Mind, If There Is One
|
25.
Francis Bacon and the Authority of Experience
Francis Bacon would come to be regarded as the prophet of Newton and originator of modern experimental science.
25.
Francis Bacon and the Authority of Experience
|
55.
What makes a Problem "Moral"
Is there a "moral reality"? We examine especially David Hume's rejection of the idea that there is anything "moral" in the external world.
55.
What makes a Problem "Moral"
|
26.
Descartes and the Authority of Reason
Descartes is remembered for "I think, therefore I am." With his work, the authority of revelation, history, and title was replaced by the weight of reason itself.
26.
Descartes and the Authority of Reason
|
56.
Medicine and the Value of Life
What guidance does moral philosophy provide in the domain of medicine, where life-and-death decisions are made daily?
56.
Medicine and the Value of Life
|
27.
Newton—The Saint of Science
In the century after Newton's death, the Enlightenment's major architects of reform and revolution defended their ideas in terms of Newtonian science and its implications.
27.
Newton—The Saint of Science
|
57.
On the Nature of Law
Philosophy of law is an ancient subject, developed by Aristotle and elaborated by Cicero. We see how natural law theory has evolved through the Enlightenment and the writings of Jeremy Bentham and John Austin.
57.
On the Nature of Law
|
28.
Hobbes and the Social Machine
As the idea of social science gained force, Hobbes's controversial treatise helped to naturalize the civil realm, readying it for scientific explanation.
28.
Hobbes and the Social Machine
|
58.
Justice and Just Wars
Theories of the "just war," beginning with St. Augustine and including St. Thomas Aquinas, Francisco de Vittoria, and Francisco Suarez, set forth principles by which engaging in and conducting war are justified.
58.
Justice and Just Wars
|
29.
Locke’s Newtonian Science of the Mind
If all of physical reality can be reduced to elementary corpuscular entities, is the mind nothing more than comparable elements held together by something akin to gravity?
29.
Locke’s Newtonian Science of the Mind
|
59.
Aesthetics—Beauty Without Observers
The subject of beauty is among the oldest in philosophy, treated at length in several of the dialogues of Plato and in his Symposium, and redefined through history. What is beauty? Is there anything "rational" about it?
59.
Aesthetics—Beauty Without Observers
|
30.
No matter? The Challenge of Materialism
When Berkeley reacted to Locke with an extravagant critique of materialism, he unwittingly reinforced claims of skeptics he meant to defeat.
30.
No matter? The Challenge of Materialism
|
60.
God—Really?
We consider various theological arguments for and against belief in God, including those of Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Reid, and William James.
60.
God—Really?
|