CAS PS 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Hermann Von Helmholtz, Cogito Ergo Sum, Thomas Sydenham

• School: Boston University
• Department: Psychological & Brain Sciences
• Course: CAS PS 101
• Professor: Barak Caine

Document Summary

Founder of the academy (first western style university- professional academics) Alexander the great (aristotle convinced him a higher standard of learning could be valuable- gained funding for the academy) Cogito ergo sum ( i think therefore i am ) Dualism- the mind and the body are separable, humans have a soul that is not part of their physical bodies. Seat of the soul- pineal gland is where the soul is (actually secretes melatonin) Vivisection- cut animals without giving them pain relievers or anaesthetic (descartes says animals have no souls so their pain does not matter) Knowledge not innate- acquired via sensory perception (consciousness, experience) Mental processes i. e. behavior is part of our functional adaptation to environment. Humans have evolved in response to stimuli in the environment (too little food, too new of a problem, too much rain)- adapting to changes in stimuli that are too little, too much, or too new. Function of behavior is to adapt to our environment.