Psychology is considered to be a
relatively new as well as one of the oldest disciplines. It is relatively new,
because it was only in the mid- to late 19th century that it emerged
as a separate, independent discipline. It is really old, because even though it
may not have existed as a separate discipline, psychology and its concepts have
been studied for many years within philosophy and physiology. This aspect of
psychology develops an intrigue and a certain level of curiosity about who
exactly can be viewed as the father of psychology – that one person who can be
said to be responsible for the development of psychology, for what psychology
has become today.
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| Sigmund Freud |
One name that quite often comes up to be
considered as the father of psychology, especially by lay persons, is Sigmund
Freud. Sigmund Freud has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on the discipline
of psychology, and there is no denying that he was a highly significant figure
in the development of psychology. He is one of the reasons for psychology being
highly popular. His ideas and concepts such as the unconscious mind, dream
analysis, Freudian slip, repression, Oedipus complex, etc. have aroused a lot
of interest in a wide range of people. Many of his concepts create a lot of
excitement in people, even today.
Despite his popularity and strong
impact, Freud cannot at all be considered as the father of psychology. In its
initial years, psychoanalysis was not even considered to be a part of
mainstream psychology. It played a role in including the study of abnormal
behavior and mental disorders within psychology. But, initially,
psychoanalysis was mostly a separate, isolated field. Thus, Sigmund Freud was
not the father of psychology. He can only be called the father of
psychoanalysis.
A person that can be strongly considered
to be the father of psychology is William James. James was the major precursor
to functionalism, the second classical school of psychology. Many consider
James to be the greatest psychologist ever. He was the one who started
psychology in the United States of America.
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| William James |
William James played a very significant
role in the development of modern psychology. His book Principles of
Psychology is still considered to be one of the best books of psychology
and consciousness. His idea of social self has led to a lot of research in the
field of social psychology.
William James’s idea of the unity of
consciousness and the doctrine of pragmatism changed the course of the study of
psychology. The doctrine of pragmatism suggests that the strength of a theory
or concept can be viewed from its practical applications.
It was this very doctrine of pragmatism
that led to the development of the discipline of applied psychology, which is
considered to be the greatest legacy of functionalism. The doctrine of
pragmatism is something that is very relevant in today’s time. There is a
strong emphasis on practical applications in research in psychology.
Keeping in view the legacy of William
James, it is suggested by many to consider him to be the father of psychology.
However, by the time William James came into prominence within the discipline
of psychology, psychology was already well on its way to be established as an
independent discipline.
Additionally, James later on in his
career had very little fondness for psychology. He considered himself to be
more of a philosopher than a psychologist. Therefore, William James, certainly
being the father of American psychology, but cannot be considered the father of
psychology.
Like William James, two early figures of
modern psychology, John B. Watson and William McDougal changed the course of
psychology and left a long-lasting legacy. Watson brought about a revolutionary
change in the discipline of psychology. He led to a complete change in the
subject matter of psychology.
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| John Watson |
Before Watson, psychology emphasized on
the study of consciousness. Watson, however, rejected the whole idea of
consciousness to be studied in psychology and emphasized on overt behavior,
environmental stimuli, and objectivity. The current, most widely used
definition of psychology states that psychology is the scientific study of
behavior and mental processes. The term behavior in the definition
of psychology is largely because of Watson, whose ideas led to the
establishment of behaviorism, one of the classical schools of psychology.
In today’s time, psychology is largely
what Watson and his behaviorism had proposed. There is a lot of focus on
objectivity and overt behavior. Watson surely left a lasting impact on the
subject matter and discipline of psychology. The influence that Watson has had
on contemporary psychology make many to consider him to be the father of
psychology. However, by the time Watson began to gain popularity (early 1900s),
psychology was already well established as a discipline. He certainly brought
about a revolutionary change, which lasted for many years.
But Watson cannot be credited to be the
person who led to the beginning of psychology as an academic discipline.
Additionally, Watson did not have a very long career in psychology. Later, in
his career, he worked extensively in advertising and marketing. Therefore,
Watson was clearly the father of behaviorism, but not the father of psychology.
Like Watson, his rival, William
McDougall, brought about a major change in the discipline of psychology.
McDougall is said to have redefined the study of psychology. He introduced his hormic
psychology suggesting that human behavior is purposive, that is,
psychological activity has purpose, which is guided by instincts. Instincts are
biological in nature; they are inborn patterns of behavior.
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| William McDougall |
McDougall wrote extensively about the role
of instincts in social behavior. By focusing on social behavior, McDougall widened the scope of psychology. He believed that psychology should be the
study of all kinds of behavior and conduct. Contemporary psychology has been
emphasizing on studying a wide range of aspects and contexts, and not just
consciousness. Further, advances in research in genetics and neurosciences
suggesting a biological basis of many social and psychological behaviors, is in
a way extending McDougall’s idea of instincts.
McDougall, however, like Watson, gained
prominence at a time when psychology had already been established as a separate
discipline. In fact, McDougall, initially was planning a career in neurology.
The works of William James had inspired him to get into psychology, which
indicates that he did not initiate the beginning of psychology. McDougall can be
considered a precursor to contemporary psychology, but not the father of
psychology.
The aforementioned psychologists came
into existence after psychology was well established as a discipline. Although
William James came into prominence much earlier, he did not put in an extra
effort in establishing a new discipline or school of thought. He later did not
even associate himself with psychology.
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| Wilhelm Wundt |
The psychologist that did make a lot of
effort in establishing psychology as an independent discipline was Wilhelm
Wundt. Wundt had introduced experimentation as a method in studying psychology,
making it a scientific discipline. He had made all efforts, including
delivering lectures, writing books, and eventually establishing the first
experimental psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany. For many years, this
laboratory was the major center for psychological research. People from all
over the world used to come at this laboratory to study psychology. Wundt is,
thus, considered to be the person responsible in making psychology a separate scientific,
academic discipline.
By establishing psychology as a
scientific, academic discipline Wundt, however, had brought about the beginning
of modern psychology. Psychology, as an aspect of philosophy, was already
existing as a discipline. Wundt, then, is regarded as the father of modern
psychology, not psychology.
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| Franz Brentano |
A major rival of Wundt, Franz Brentano,
also had a great impact on psychology. His idea of psychic phenomena and the
unity of consciousness as opposed to Wundt’s elementism had a long-lasting
legacy. Brentano went on to have an influence in the development of
functionalism, gestalt psychology, phenomenological psychology, and humanistic
psychology, all going along with the idea of phenomena and the unity of
consciousness. In this way, Brentano’s legacy has had a huge impact on the
development of the discipline of psychology.
Brentano, however, like William James,
did not put in that effort and did not intend to establish a separate
discipline. Also, like Wundt, Brentano’s contribution is considered to be more
in the establishment of modern psychology.
All these psychologists, in many ways,
have taken forward the ideas of scholars that were at an earlier time, and contributed
to the emergence and development of modern psychology. It is then indicative
that the father of psychology can be one of such scholars, someone whose ideas
emerged in the premodern phase of psychology or what sometimes is called the
prehistoric stage of psychology.
In
this regard, the beginning of what turned into the discipline of psychology is
often traced back to the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle. Aristotle is one
of the first persons to give a systematic explanation of experience. He is
regarded as the first philosopher to extensively write about topics that later
became part of mainstream psychology.
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| Aristotle |
Aristotle
wrote about a wide range of topics such as memory,
reasoning, sensation, motivation, morality, social behavior, education, development,
geriatrics, sleep and dreams, language, and learning. All of these topics are
covered in psychology, in today’s time, by the many different subfields in
psychology. Further, Aristotle’s book De Anima (On the Soul) written in
350 BC, is often considered to be the first book of psychology. In the book,
Aristotle gave an extensive explanation of behavior using the biological
sciences. The explanation of behavior in terms of biology is a major part of
psychology, today. As there is advancement in technology, there are more and
more discoveries suggesting the biological root of behavior.
This suggests that Aristotle can be
considered to be the father of psychology. After all, it all began from him.
But Aristotle has been associated with almost every discipline. He has made
contributions to physics, metaphysics, biology, logic, literature, political
science, etc. In this case, it might not be very correct to consider Aristotle
the sole founder of psychology.
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| Rene Descartes |
Apart from Aristotle, Rene Descartes, the
founder of modern philosophy, is credited to be the forebearer of psychology.
Descartes’s notion of dualism, suggesting that mind and body are two separate
entities and both influence each other had major implications for the discipline
of psychology. Descartes contended that all bodily processes are in the realms
of physiology and that all mental processes belong to psychology. In doing so,
Descartes firmly defined the subject matter of psychology, suggesting that
psychology is the study of the mind.
Descartes’s influence on psychology is also
reflected in that he paved the way for the scientific study of conscious, the
study of overt behavior, and psychophysiology. The successors of Descartes
either elaborated on the mechanical aspect of his Cartesian thought or the
cognitive side of it, both of which have been significant in shaping
psychology. In this way, Rene Descartes directly stimulated the founding of the
discipline of psychology.
Even though Descartes was highly
influential in paving the way for the discipline of psychology, many of ideas
have been found incompatible with scientific analysis. In comparison to that,
the German philosopher Baruch Spinoza’s ideas were more aligned with scientific
principles associated with the development of scientific psychology.
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| Baruch Spinoza |
Spinoza is said to be the first person to
treat human emotions (one of the major topics discussed in modern psychology)
in great detail. The ideas of Spinoza, regarding emotions, have influenced one
of the first major theories of emotions, which was proposed by William James
and Carl Lange.
Also, the psychoanalysts, Franz Alexander
and Sheldon Selesnick, in their book The History of Psychiatry: An Evaluation of
Psychiatric Thought & Practice from Prehistoric Times to the Present, published
in 1966, have, referred to Spinoza as the greatest pre-Freudian psychologist. This
clearly makes him to be viewed as one the earliest recognized psychologists.
More importantly, Spinoza rejected
Descartes’s idea of free will, and strongly believed in the principle of
psychic determinism. This led to the stimulation of the scientific study of the
mind, which played a major role in the beginning of the discipline of
psychology. Spinoza is, in fact, regarded as the first modern scholar to view
human beings in terms of psychic determinism. Due to this, Spinoza is given
more credit as compared to Descartes in being the major precursor to the
development of the discipline of psychology.
Apart from psychic determinism, the
quantification of behavior is something that became important in making
psychology a separate, scientific discipline. The German philosopher, Johann Friedrich
Herbart is credited with this aspect of psychology.
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| Johann Friedrich Herbart |
One of the main goals of Herbart was to
describe the mind in mathematical terms. He wanted to use mathematics to
describe behavior just like Newton did for the physical sciences. Herbart used calculus
to describe mental phenomena. This made him one of the first persons to have a
mathematical model for psychology. The use of mathematics in psychology by
Herbart gave it a lot of respect, and played a very significant role in the
development of scientific psychology. Most of the psychology in today’s time is
about quantification of behavior. A lot of credit for this clearly goes to
Herbart.
Further, Herbart’s book Textbook in
Psychology, published in 1816, in many ways is often regarded as the
beginning of psychology. Books on psychology were written before this, but they
always discussed psychology to be an aspect of either philosophy or physiology.
Herbart’s book, however, was the first book in which psychology was discussed
as a separate, independent discipline.
Descartes, Spinoza, and Herbart represented
the rationalistic thought, which had a significant influence in the development
of psychology. Along with rationalism, empiricism also played an important role
in psychology. Empiricism, in fact, is said to have laid the foundation for
scientific psychology.
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| Thomas Hobbes |
The founder of empiricism was Thomas
Hobbes. Hobbes was convinced that the mechanistic principle can be used to study human
beings. He was influenced by Galileo who explained the motion of physical
objects using the mechanistic principle, that is, external forces acting on it.
Hobbes argued that since humans are also a part of the universe, they also
function in a mechanical manner, suggesting that humans are like machines.
This was the first time when the methods
and principles of Galileo were used to study human beings. It, therefore, began
the use of the methods of the physical sciences in behavior, which became a
major factor in the beginning of scientific psychology. The methods of physical
sciences were used by all the other empiricists, and then later by Wundt, which
led him to make psychology a separate, independent discipline.
By using the mechanistic principle, Hobbes
was also proposing the idea of materialism – all that existed (including human
behavior) was physical, and determinism – all activity (including human
behavior) is caused by external forces acting on the object. Mechanism along
with materialism and determinism were very important in the beginning of scientific
psychology, and in the rise of the classical schools of psychology of
structuralism and behaviorism. Many of the behavioristic principles are still
very widely used in psychology.
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| John Stuart Mill |
The idea of materialism and mechanism was
later strengthened to a greater extent by the later empiricist and one of the greatest
scholars of his time, John Stuart Mill. Mill argued that even though it may be difficult
to predict human behavior, it is a matter of time when such predictions can be
made with more accuracy. In this way, he is regarded to have advanced the idea
of studying human behavior through natural sciences or what was referred to as
the science of human nature.
Mill further proposed for the development
of the science of human character and called it ethology (not the same as
modern ethology). According to Mill, his ethology would be about the formation
of character and personality in specific contexts, and would be derived from
the general laws of the science of human nature. This was his attempt to
develop a highly accurate science for studying human behavior.
Mill wanted to give a lot of emphasis to
individual differences. The study of individual differences became a highly
significant aspect of modern psychology, and is still a major part of
personality psychology. The idea of individual differences led to the idea of the
trait approach. It also became very important in the rise psychological
testing, which in itself has now become a major subfield of psychology.
Mill had made a proper outline of his
ethology, but did not do much to further develop it. Nevertheless, this perhaps
can be seen as an early attempt to have a separate, independent discipline to
study human behavior, much before Wundt had been successful in it. In this way,
John Stuart Mill becomes a highly significant precursor to modern psychology.
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| Alexander Bain |
Another later empiricist and a close friend
of John Stuart Mill, was Alexander Bain. Bain is also regarded as a significant
precursor to modern psychology. Due to his strong influence, Bain is often
referred to as the first true psychologist. Two of his books, The Senses and
the Intellect, published in 1855, and Emotions and the Will,
published in 1859, are regarded as the first systematic textbooks on
psychology. These two books were considered to be standard textbooks in
psychology for the next 50 years. He also founded the journal, Mind in
1876, which is considered to be the first journal that addressed psychological
questions. It is still considered to be a prestigious journal in philosophy of
psychology.
In his book, The Senses and the
Intellect, Bain tried to explain how the biological processes are related
to psychological processes. The book started with a chapter of neurology, which
has now become a standard procedure in all textbooks of psychology. Bain, in
fact, differed from the other empiricists in that he explained association as
neurological processes. It was after Bain’s attempt that the relation between
physiological and psychological processes became an integral part of
psychology. This eventually brought the study of human behavior at the brink of
being an experimental discipline, which is one of the main reasons for
psychology to emerge as an independent, scientific discipline.
Alexander Bain setting the trend of the
subject matter and textbooks of psychology as well as being considered to be
the first true psychologist can, therefore, be considered the father of
psychology. However, the contributions of other scholars before Bain cannot be ignored,
and thus, considering Bain to be sole person leading to the development of the
discipline of psychology may not be a very plausible argument. Along with Bain,
all the other aforementioned scholars, namely, Descartes, Spinoza, Herbart,
Hobbes, and Mill have also made significant contributions and in their own
right can be considered the forebearer of the discipline of psychology.
Psychology is a multifaceted discipline; it
deals with a wide range of issues. In different phases of the development of
psychology there have been different individuals that can be referred to as the
forebearer of psychology.
In this regard, specifying a father of
psychology may be difficult and would rather be inappropriate. Instead, it can
be said more appropriately that there cannot be one sole founder of psychology.
The discipline of psychology has, in fact, had multiple forebearers.
This article can also be found on the blog History of Psychology
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