The contributions of Socrates the Greek to Psychology
Philosophy is the mother of all sciences. Let's deal with the specialty that we deal with and whatever the object of study, just as philosophy is based on the search for truth and knowledge, or on its practical application. In this way, we often find concepts and perspectives from philosophical thought in scientific theories.
One of the best known and most important classical philosophers is Socrates , whose contributions have been contributed to the generation of different techniques and ways of thinking about the functioning of the world and the mind. Let's see in this article some of the main contributions of Socrates to Psychology.
- Related article: "55 phrases of Socrates to understand his thought"
Socrates, the philosopher
One of the greatest Greek philosophers (in fact the philosophers before him are sometimes called pre-Socratic), Socrates was born in Athens during 470 a.C. , of mother midwife and father sculptor. Although the details of his life are doubtful, the different writings indicate that this man of humble family had from childhood a great wit, forming in different disciplines such as literature and music. He is known to participate in different wars as an infantry soldier, as that of the Peloponnese, and that he married a woman named Xantipa.
In regards to his thinking as a philosopher, Socrates He stressed by focusing his attention on the field of morality and ethics . He considered that the human being tends to the good and that every vice is the product of ignorance. He believed that good, love, goodness and ethics were based on universal definitions. The posture was opposed to the relativism advocated by the sophists. He also believed that the philosopher should seek wisdom in virtue, being necessary to achieve it recognize your own ignorance.
He himself did not consider himself wise, and considered that most people believed they knew more than they really knew. Thus, he used irony and dialogue in order to expose the contradictions of his interlocutors and to make others see the level of knowledge they actually possessed.
- Related article: "The 6 differences between ethics and morals"
His thought
Despite believing in the existence of universal definitions, he is considered a precursor of inductism, in the sense that he considered that universal concepts should be obtained from the simple to the complex, from the particular to the general . Each one must ask his own questions and form his way of seeing the world, reaching ever greater understanding of its operation.
As well his use of maieutics is famous , which is based on answering the questions of others with other questions so that the individual himself will elaborate his own answer.
This philosopher did not write or transcribe his reflections By considering that each individual must form their own ideas. His work has come to us through the different disciples, and especially through Plato, who reflected and deepened his work in some of the concepts stipulated by Socrates.
Socrates he was tried and condemned to death by poisoning by hemlock , accused of corrupting young people and not accepting the deities of the Athenians. He died in the year 470 a.C.
Contributions of Socrates to psychology
The progressive advance of science and its search for objectivity can make it difficult for many to observe the relationship between the current state of matter, in this case, psychology and philosophy. However, the contributions of Socrates to this and other sciences is of great value and importance. Here are some of these contributions.
1. Interest in the psyche
Socrates and his disciple Plato worked and reflected on the existence of the psyche, what they considered the soul . The influence of this fact on the current science of psychology is evident, being its birth product of the reflection on the contents of our mind derived from these and other authors.
2. Ethics and morals
Socrates focused his thought on ethics and morals. The behavior of the individual in society and the formation of patterns of behavior, attitudes and values are some of the multiple aspects with which psychology deals.
- You may be interested: "The theory of moral development of Lawrence Kohlberg"
3. Inductive method
Socrates is considered one of the forerunners when it comes to the creation of the inductive method, by pretending that people accedieran to the knowledge of the truth through their experience instead of starting from supposed knowledge and given by good. This method is of great importance in turn when generating the scientific method, characterized by hypothetical-deductive reasoning.
4. Socratic method
The Socratic dialogue is a strategy based on the maieutics of Socrates that is still used even today in the practice of psychology, being basic in multiple therapies. It is based on the realization of questions of inductive cut: the therapist is carrying out different questions with the aim of making the subject reflect and find his own answer to what is posed.
5. Precursor of constructivism
Constructivism is based on the creation of knowledge through generating shared knowledge that in turn depends on the subject being able to give meaning to the material learned. Socrates considered that you should teach not what to think, but how to do it . This consideration is related to the search for constructivism that the student generates their own learning process, thanks to the application of various aids offered by the medium. Thus, as Socrates proposed, the teacher must help the student to generate to create their own knowledge.
6. Use of irony: Confrontation
Socrates was characterized for making use, in his dialectical method, irony . It was intended to make the subject see that the contradictions existing in his discourse were considered wise and to refute his biased arguments in order to make him aware of his true level of knowledge.
In therapy, it is sometimes used a similar strategy the confrontation , in which the subject is exposed to the contradictions existing in his speech or between his speech and his behavior in order to make him aware of them.
