Unit 4 Project

The following paper will discuss philosophers and scientists who created the foundation for modern psychological thought and treatments. I will discuss John Locke who was an Oxford scholar, medical researcher and physician, political operative, economist and ideologue for a revolutionary movement, as well as being one of the great philosophers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. And then I will discuss Wilhelm Wundt who is thought of as one of the founding fathers of psychology. Wundt is credited for founding psychology, or in other words he made psychology a true science.

John Locke was considered one of the most influential philosophers in post-renaissance Europe, which was about the mid 1600s. Locke has been recognized for several important documents that have influenced the beginnings of modern psychology. One of his most important works written in 1690 was entitled, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding(“An Essay Concerning...”). The work was considered a foundational text in Western philosophy and brought up the model of how people developed. The essay also asked the question of how and why people become individuals. In the essay, Locke proposes that we are all born with certain knowledge and principles that helps us to become part of society. The theory known as Tabula Rasa meaning a blank or clean slate om which experience would write(Schultz & Schultz, 2008). He states that it is through experience, of the world around us, this is how one forms ideas. He further states that human knowledge is gathered in two distinct ways through sensation and reflection. These are further broken down into primary and secondary qualities of senses. With the basic idea he suggested that out of the 2 sources of human knowledge one starts out with simple ideas that are used to form complex ideas, which are formed through communication between individuals.

The fundamental principles of Locke's philosophy is what we know is always properly understood...