Psychology is the scientific study of mental functions and behavior. Psychologists study such phenomena as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior and interpersonal relationships. Psychological knowledge is applied to various spheres of human activity, including issues related to everyday life—such as family, education, and employment—and to the treatment of mental health problems. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the underlying physiological and neurological processes.

All this makes psychology an essential field of study for today's readers, whether or not they plan to pursue a career in psychology. This book offers a comprehensive collection of the greatest thinkers in the field. By reading their biographies, the reader will gain a deeper understanding of this vital field of study.

Psychology is the scientific study of mental functions and behavior. Psychologists study such phenomena as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior and interpersonal relationships. Psychological knowledge is applied to various spheres of human activity, including issues related to everyday life—such as family, education, and employment—and to the treatment of mental health problems. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the underlying physiological and neurological processes. All this makes psychology an essential field of study for today's readers, whether or not they plan to pursue a career in psychology. This book offers a comprehensive collection of the greatest thinkers in the field. By reading their biographies, the reader will gain a deeper understanding of this vital field of study.

CONTENTS: Introduction; I. Ancient Thought; Socrates; Plato; Aristotle; II. The Middle Ages–The Enlightenment; Alkindus; St. Anselm of Canterbury; Abelard; Avicenna; Averroes of Cordova; Thomas Aquinas; Francis Bacon; Galileo Galilei; Rene Descartes; Thomas Hobbes; Benedictus Spinoza; John Locke; George Berkeley; Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz; Pierre Bayle; David Hume; Franz Anton Mesmer; Immanuel Kant; Philippe Pinel; Appendix:A Selection of Readings from the Foundations of Psychology; From Socrates' Dialogues; Aristotle; St. Anselm; Thomas Aquinas; Descartes; Hobbes; Spinoza; Berkeley; From Kant's The Critique of Practical Reason; Reading List; Index

Psychology is the scientific study of mental functions and behavior. Psychologists study such phenomena as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior and interpersonal relationships. Psychological knowledge is applied to various spheres of human activity, including issues related to everyday life—such as family, education, and employment—and to the treatment of mental health problems. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the underlying physiological and neurological processes. All this makes psychology an essential field of study for today's readers, whether or not they plan to pursue a career in psychology. This book offers a comprehensive collection of the greatest thinkers in the field. By reading their biographies, the reader will gain a deeper understanding of this vital field of study.

CONTENTS: I. 19th Century Philosophical and Scientific Foundations; Jean-Jacques Rousseau; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; Arthur Schopenhauer; Søren Aabye Kierkegaard; Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche; Jean-Martin Charcot; John Stuart Mill; Thomas Brown; Alexander Bain; Ernst Weber; Gustav Fechner; Sir Francis Galton; II. The First Psychologists; Wilhelm Wundt; William James; Hermann Ebbinghaus; Alfred Binet; Sigmund Freud; Carl Jung; Alfred Adler; Appendix I:Readings from 19th-Century Science and Philosophy; Appendix II:Readings from Four of the First Psychologists; Reading List; Index