Category Archives: Psychology

Comparative Analysis (11-18th century)

January 22, 2026 – 8:25 AM

Reference: SC: Psychology

NOTE: Text in color contains Vinaire’s comments.

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Ontological Assumptions

Western and Eastern traditions diverged fundamentally in their conceptualization of self and consciousness. Western thought, particularly after Descartes, increasingly adopted substance dualism, treating mind and body as distinct entities requiring connection. Eastern traditions maintained holistic monism, viewing psyche as inherently embodied and integrated with physical and spiritual dimensions.

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Methodological Approaches

The West progressively prioritized empirical observation and rational analysis, with Vives’s inductive methods and Enlightenment experimentalism establishing psychology’s scientific trajectory. Eastern approaches emphasized introspection, meditative practice, and holistic observation, with Indian yoga and Chinese dialectical analysis providing systematic introspective methodologies.

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Emotion Theory

Medieval Western thought treated emotions as physiological-psychological responses requiring rational direction. Islamic psychology similarly viewed emotions as natural responses needing cultivation through virtue ethics. Indian psychology identified emotions as expressions of manas and hrdaya, requiring equanimity rather than control. Chinese philosophy developed polarity theories, understanding emotions as manifestations of qing requiring balance between Confucian cultivation and Taoist naturalness.

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Mental Illness Treatment

Western approaches evolved from supernatural explanations toward medical models, with compassionate care replacing harsh treatment by the 18th century. Islamic psychology maintained holistic treatment combining physical, psychological, and spiritual interventions throughout the period. Indian and Chinese traditions developed sophisticated psychotherapeutic techniques emphasizing meditation, lifestyle modification, and restoration of balance.

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Consciousness Studies

Western consciousness theory progressed from Ockham’s intuitive cognition to Descartes’s cogito, emphasizing self-awareness as rational certainty. Eastern traditions explored altered states (Indian turiya, Buddhist jhānas) and developed detailed cartographies of consciousness levels, with Islamic mystics (Sufis) mapping spiritual stations (maqāmāt) of self-transformation.

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Conclusion

The 11th–18th centuries established foundational frameworks that continue shaping contemporary psychology. Western development demonstrated increasing methodological rigor and scientific orientation, moving from theological to naturalistic explanations. Eastern traditions maintained holistic integration, developing sophisticated wellness models that modern psychology has only recently begun to appreciate. The period’s most enduring contribution may be the diversity of psychological paradigms it produced—demonstrating that human consciousness can be understood through multiple valid frameworks, each offering distinctive insights into the complex relationship between mind, body, and society.

This comparative history reveals that psychology’s “progress” is not linear but multidimensional, with different civilizations developing complementary approaches to understanding human nature. The 18th century’s synthesis of empirical method and holistic concern prefigured psychology’s ongoing integration of biological, psychological, and social dimensions—a reconciliation of insights that Eastern traditions never divided.

The Western psychology focuses on individuality; whereas the Eastern psychology focuses on attaining universal consciousness. The contradiction between these two goals is seen in Scientology. This contradiction, however, is handled in Postulate Mechanics.

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Eastern Psychological Development (11-18th century)

January 22, 2026 – 7:40 AM

Reference: SC: Psychology

NOTE: Text in color contains Vinaire’s comments.

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Islamic Psychology (11th–18th Centuries)

Islamic psychology (ʿilm al-nafs—science of the self/psyche) developed a sophisticated holistic model integrating Greek philosophy, Qur’anic principles, and clinical observation. This tradition emphasized the inseparability of mental health, physical wellbeing, and spiritual practice.

Conceptual Framework: Muslim scholars used nafs (self/personality) and fitrah (human nature) to denote psychological constructs, encompassing qalb (heart), ruh (soul), aql (intellect), and irada (will). Mental illness was designated A‘ilaj al-nafs (treatment of the soul), al-tibb al-ruhani (spiritual health), or tibb al-qalb (mental medicine).

Key Contributors:

Al-Ghazali (c. 1058–1111): The 11th-century mujaddid (renewer of faith) systematized Islamic psychology in his Iḥyā’ ‘ulūm ad-dīn (Revival of Religious Sciences). He developed a structural theory of the psyche based on Qur’anic exegesis, analyzing the soul’s faculties and their role in moral development. His tripartite division of the soul—rational, concupiscent (desire), and irascible (anger)—employed the rider-horse-dog metaphor from Greek philosophy, with the rational faculty controlling lower faculties to achieve cardinal virtues. Al-Ghazali’s psychological crisis and recovery, documented in his autobiographical writings, provided profound insights into consciousness, anxiety, and spiritual transformation.

Ibn Miskawayh (c. 940–1030): This 10th-century philosopher pioneered therapeutic techniques including “self-reinforcement” and response-cost mechanisms. His Tahdhib al-Aklaq (Refinement of Character) outlined rules for moral health analogous to medical regimens for physical health, harmonizing Platonic, Aristotelian, Stoic, and Neoplatonic virtues within Islamic culture. Miskawayh emphasized bodily practices, habituation of appetites, and social dimensions of virtue cultivation.

Clinical Innovations: Islamic psychologists implemented expressive therapies using music and olfactory stimulation to engage sensory functions in healing. They recognized curative potential in therapeutic relationships and emphasized positive reinforcement. Al-Razi (864–932) advocated relational skills to ease healing, while physicians like Constantinus Africanus (11th century) translated Arabic texts emphasizing physical cures for melancholia.

Islamic psychologists implemented expressive therapies using music and olfactory stimulation to engage sensory functions in healing. They believed in the inseparability of mental health, physical wellbeing, and spiritual practice; and rational faculty controlling lower faculties to achieve cardinal virtues. Rules were outlined for moral health analogous to medical regimens for physical health. 

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Indian Psychology (11th–18th Centuries)

Indian psychological thought during this period refined ancient Vedic and Buddhist insights into consciousness, developing sophisticated mental health practices that recognized subconscious influences and therapeutic concentration.

Core Concepts: Indian psychology identified manas (mind/heart) as the center for emotions like fear, with the heart (hrdaya) representing the source of involuntary, irrational psychological processes. The manas operated in multiple states: waking, dreaming, deep sleep (sushupti), and transcendent consciousness (turiya), the latter achieved through meditation rather than ordinary transition.

Mental Health Theory: Ancient texts described unmad (psychosis) with etiologies suggesting both organic (worms, fever) and functional origins, demonstrating nuanced diagnostic understanding. Mental suffering was analyzed through concepts like tapas of manas—maintaining the mind as happy, kind, silent, self-controlled, and pure. The Bhagavad Gita emphasized equanimity (samatva) as essential for mental health, establishing that balanced mind establishes connection with ultimate reality (brahman).

Therapeutic Methods: Yoga systems provided comprehensive frameworks for mental health, recognizing concentration as the means to perceive truth and understanding the mind-body connection. Psychotherapeutic techniques appeared throughout ancient literature, emphasizing meditation, emotional regulation, and cultivation of virtues. Indian psychologists identified subconscious forces as potent determinants of conscious tendencies, anticipating Freudian insights by centuries.

Philosophical Developments: Thinkers systematically analyzed mental tendencies, rejecting theories of innate destructiveness. They concluded that human nature fundamentally seeks eternal happiness and existence, contrasting with Western psychoanalytic emphasis on death drives.

According to Indian psychological thought, human nature fundamentally seeks eternal happiness and existence. But subconscious forces are potent determinants of conscious tendencies. Psychotherapeutic techniques emphasized meditation, emotional regulation, cultivation of virtues, and equanimity.

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Chinese Psychology (11th–18th Centuries)

Chinese psychological thought integrated Confucian social ethics, Taoist naturalism, and Buddhist introspection, creating distinctive frameworks for understanding human development and mental life.

Theoretical Integration: From the 11th–13th centuries, Chinese philosophy synthesized key concepts—qi (vital energy), yin-yang polarity, wuxing (five phases), and li (principle)—into comprehensive psychological models. This integration created dialectical explanations of behavior emphasizing balance and harmony.

Core Frameworks:

Confucian Psychology: Confucianism centered psychological development on moral cultivation within social relationships. The concept of qing (情) evolved from denoting objective reality to encompass subjective feelings and emotions, particularly during the Warring States period. Mencius’s theory of innate goodness provided foundation for understanding moral emotions, while Xunzi’s counter-argument emphasized cultivation over nature.

Taoist Naturalism: Taoist thinkers viewed human nature as simple and good, arguing that acquired ideas and moralities damage innate purity. Psychological health required purging desires and returning to natural spontaneity, contrasting with Confucian emphasis on cultivated virtue.

Buddhist Influence: Buddhism introduced Indo-European psychological theory, facilitating understanding of mind from representational states perspective. This imported framework enabled new conceptualizations of qing as subjective feelings, revolutionizing Chinese emotion theory.

Brain-Central Theory: Chinese medicine developed sophisticated brain-centered theories of mental function, articulated through the yīn yáng wu˘ xíng framework and heart-central theory. These models emphasized physiological-psychological integration centuries before Western equivalences.

Chinese psychological thought integrated moral cultivation within social relationships with innate purity and mental representations. It synthesized key concepts—qi (vital energy), yin-yang polarity, wuxing (five phases), and li (principle)—into comprehensive psychological models. Chinese medicine developed sophisticated brain-centered theories of mental function.

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Western Psychological Development (11-18th century)

January 20, 2026 – 8:38 PM

Reference: SC: Psychology

NOTE: Text in color contains Vinaire’s comments.

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Medieval Foundations (11th–14th Centuries)

Medieval Western psychology operated within a Christian-Aristotelian synthesis that viewed the psyche as fundamentally embodied. The rational soul served as the “form” of the body, with mental processes understood as integrated physiological-psychological phenomena rather than purely mental events. This period established crucial conceptual foundations:

Mind-Body Integration: Unlike later Cartesian dualism, medieval thinkers understood cognition as a two-part process where physiological brain mechanisms mirrored rational soul processes, with neither reducible to the other. Observations of head injuries confirmed Galen’s localization of rational aspects in the brain, though popular notions of the heart as the seat of understanding persisted.

Emotion Theory: Emotions (passions) were conceived as natural responses of the sensitive appetite to external events, neither inherently good nor evil until directed by reason and will. This contrasted sharply with the Stoic view that emotions constituted disturbances requiring elimination. Medieval literature, such as Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, depicted love-sickness as both mental and bodily illness, with psychosomatic symptoms reflecting the integrated nature of affective experience.

Faculty Psychology: William of Ockham (1317–1349) revolutionized psychological theory by unifying the rational soul with its faculties. Rejecting previous distinctions between soul and rational powers, Ockham argued for identity between the soul’s essence and its capacities. His principle of ontological parsimony—commonly called Occam’s Razor—eliminated unnecessary multiplication of entities in psychological explanation. Ockham further developed the concept of intuitive cognition, a uniquely human awareness that perceived objects exist and possess particular qualities, bridging sensory data and intellectual understanding.

Brain is the switchboard to the body that is operated upon by the mind. Emotion is a natural response to the external event that initiates the intellectual process of rationality and understanding. The psychosomatic symptoms reflect the integrated nature of affective experience.

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Renaissance Transformation (15th–16th Centuries)

The Renaissance marked psychology’s emergence from purely metaphysical speculation toward empirical observation, driven by humanist emphasis on individual personality and the printing press’s dissemination of knowledge.

Empirical Methodology: Juan Luis Vives (1493–1540) pioneered observational psychology in his De anima et vita (1538), applying analytical methods that prefigured Bacon and Descartes. Vives advanced several revolutionary concepts:

  • Physiological Psychology: He maintained that mental capacities depended on bodily temperament, arguing maladaptive behavior could be treated as physical illness requiring medical care rather than moral condemnation.
  • Faculty Analysis: Vives systematically examined the soul’s three faculties—mind, will, and memory—while exploring topics from sleep and dreams to longevity.
  • Emotion Theory: Rejecting Stoic suppression of emotions, Vives viewed them as essential constituents of human life, natural responses to how things appear.

Therapeutic Humanism: Vives advocated compassionate treatment of mental disorders, prescribing individualized instruction for mild cases and medical intervention for severe conditions. This humane approach contrasted with medieval harshness and anticipated modern therapeutic ethics.

There is individual personality, and it is best understood by empirical observation. Maladaptive behavior cannot be treated simply by moral condemnation. The mental disorder underlying that behavior requires compassionate treatment.

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Enlightenment Systematization (17th–18th Centuries)

The Enlightenment crystallized psychology’s shift toward scientific rationalism, establishing foundational concepts for modern experimental psychology.

Philosophical Revolution: Descartes’ Cogito ergo sum (1637) and Newton’s Principia (1687) provided methodological templates for analyzing mental phenomena through reason and empirical evidence. Enlightenment thinkers synthesized 17th-century rationalist metaphysics (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz) with British empiricism (Locke, Hume), creating hybrid frameworks for understanding human nature.

Emotion Theory Development: Seventeenth and eighteenth-century philosophers developed sophisticated analyses of emotions (passions, affects), often employing hydraulic models where pains and pleasures pushed ideas through associative mechanisms. Key developments included:

  • Spinoza and Descartes: Both sought “remedies” for passions through rational control, viewing emotional regulation as central to virtue and happiness.
  • Associationist Psychology: Hume and others developed “Newtonian” ambitions for a “science of man,” explaining emotions through principles of association.
  • Moral Sentiment Theory: Rousseau traced emotional genesis through social structure changes, while other thinkers emphasized cultivation of moral sentiments.

Medical Model Advancement: By the 18th century, mental illness treatment increasingly paralleled physical medicine. Harsh treatment gave way to compassionate care, with comprehensive approaches incorporating nutrition, exercise, sleep, emotional regulation, and environmental hygiene. The stigma surrounding mental illness diminished as pathological conditions were viewed through medical rather than moral frameworks.

Psychology has gradually shifted toward the use of reason and empirical evidence to understand human nature. Emotions are explained through principles of association. Treatment of mental illness has increasingly paralleled physical medicine. This has helped diminish the stigma surrounding mental illness.

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Psychology Timeline East (1st–10th century CE)

January 20, 2026 – 12:27 PM

Reference: SC: Psychology

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1st–10th century CE

  • c. 1st–4th century CE – Classical Sāṅkhya and Yoga coalescence
    Sāṅkhya’s dualist metaphysics of puruṣa (pure consciousness) and prakṛti (mind–matter) and its doctrine of three guṇas become the standard theoretical frame for Indian psychological discourse; the Sāṅkhyakārikā (c. 3rd–4th century) systematizes this.
  • c. 2nd century CE – Full Theravāda Abhidhamma Piṭaka in scholastic use
    By around this time the seven Theravāda Abhidhamma books are complete and function as a full-scale “manual of Buddhist psychology,” analyzing consciousness episodes moment by moment.
  • c. 150–250 CE – Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka
    Nāgārjuna’s work on śūnyatā (emptiness) deconstructs any fixed essence of self or phenomena, providing a radical psychometaphysical critique of reification and attachment.
  • c. 2nd–5th century CE – Tattvārtha Sūtra of Umāsvāti
    The Jain Tattvārtha Sūtra (c. 2nd–5th century) codifies a full Jain psychology: types of cognition, structure of jīva, karmic influx, bondage, and methods for cessation and shedding of karmic “matter”.
  • c. 3rd–5th century CE – Pātañjala Yoga Sūtra
    The Yoga Sūtra (often placed c. 3rd–4th century CE) formalizes the definition of yoga as citta‑vṛtti‑nirodha, articulates five vṛttis, kleshas, samskāras, and the eightfold path as a graded method of restructuring consciousness.
  • c. 4th–5th century CE – Yogācāra (Asaṅga, Vasubandhu)
    Yogācāra introduces the ālayavijñāna (storehouse consciousness), the eightfold model of consciousness, and the three natures theory, providing a multi‑layered account of conscious and unconscious processes and their transformation.
  • c. 5th–7th century CE – Mature Abhidharma and Buddhist logic
    Later Abhidharma scholastics refine phenomenological maps of mind; Dignāga (c. 5th–6th c.) and Dharmakīrti (7th c.) build a sophisticated epistemology of perception and inference that shapes all later Indo‑Tibetan psychology.
  • 602–664 CE – Xuanzang’s translation project
    The Chinese monk Xuanzang studies Yogācāra and Abhidharma in India (629–645) and returns to Chang’an with 657 texts, transmitting Indian psychological doctrines to East Asia and catalyzing Chinese Yogācāra and consciousness‑only schools.
  • c. 6th–7th century CE – Formation of Chinese Chán (Zen)
    By Sui–Tang times, Chán develops as a distinctive meditation-centered Buddhism in China, emphasizing immediate insight into mind‑nature (Buddha‑nature) through contemplative practice rather than discursive analysis.
  • c. 7th century CE – Wonhyo in Korea
    Wonhyo (617–686) formulates “One Mind” and Tongbulgyo (interpenetrated Buddhism), harmonizing diverse doctrines as expressions of a single psychological reality of mind, influencing Korean and East Asian Buddhist psychology.
  • c. 7th–10th century CE – Early Kashmir Śaivism
    Kashmir Śaiva systems (Trika, Pratyabhijñā, etc.) elaborate a non‑dual psychology where consciousness (Śiva) is intrinsically luminous and creative, and bondage is a contracted mode of awareness to be expanded through specific contemplative methods.
  • c. 8th–9th century CE – Śaṅkara and Advaita Vedānta
    Śaṅkara (traditionally c. 788–820) systematizes non‑dual Vedānta, distinguishing the witnessing consciousness (sākṣin) from mind’s modifications and using sravaṇa–manana–nididhyāsana as a graded cognitive therapy for avidyā (ignorance).
  • c. 10th–11th century CE – Rāmānuja’s Viśiṣṭādvaita
    Rāmānuja (c. 1017–1137) articulates a relational psychology of self as a part of Brahman, giving primacy to bhakti (devotional feeling) and śaraṇāgati (surrender) as transformative mental practices.
  • c. 10th–11th century CE – Abhinavagupta’s synthesis
    Abhinavagupta (c. 950–1020) integrates Kashmir Śaivism and aesthetics into a comprehensive theory of consciousness, recognition (pratyabhijñā), and aesthetic–spiritual experience, open to householders and non‑renunciates.

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Psychology Timeline East (Ancient history – BCE)

January 20, 2026 – 11:55 AM

Reference: SC: Psychology

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Ancient history – BCE

  • c. 2600–1900 BCE – Indus Valley Civilization
    Iconography suggests early yogic/meditative postures and concern with inner states, though not yet systematized as explicit psychology.
  • c. 1500–1200 BCE – Early Vedic Period (Ṛgveda)
    Vedic hymns introduce early notions of manas (mind), sattva–rajas–tamas as qualitative traits, and distinguish mental from physical affliction in ritual-healing contexts.
  • c. 1000–600 BCE – Later Vedic / Upaniṣadic Emergence
    Principal Upaniṣads begin to take shape; they analyze states of consciousness (waking, dream, deep sleep, and samādhi), the relation of ātman and mind, and introduce explicit practices of self‑inquiry (ātma‑vicāra).
  • c. 600–400 BCE – Early Upaniṣads and Vedānta
    The major classical Upaniṣads (Bṛhadāraṇyaka, Chāndogya, etc.) are composed, offering detailed accounts of cognition, memory, desire, and the psychosomatic linkage of thought, breath, and health.
  • c. 6th century BCE – Historical Buddha and Early Buddhism
    Gautama Buddha formulates the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path as a diagnostic–therapeutic model of suffering, with a phenomenological account of craving, perception, and the no‑self (anātman) doctrine.
  • c. 6th–5th century BCE – Jaina and early Buddhist psychological doctrines
    Early Jaina and Buddhist texts analyze karmic conditioning of mind, types of cognition, and structured paths of purifying attention and emotion (e.g., mindfulness of body, feeling, mind, dhammas).
  • c. 5th–4th century BCE – Classical Upaniṣads complete
    Upaniṣadic corpus largely stabilized; Vedāntic analyses of self, mind, and liberation become the primary “high theory” of Indian psychological thought.
  • c. 4th–3rd century BCE – Abhidharma beginnings
    The earliest Abhidharma texts appear, initiating the systematic taxonomic analysis of mental factors (cetasikas), momentary dharmas, and cognitive processes in Theravāda and other schools.
  • c. 3rd–2nd century BCE – Aśokan and early scholastic period
    Growth of Buddhist monastic centers supports more technical Abhidharma work and debate; mental phenomena are classified with increasing precision for contemplative training.
  • c. 2nd–1st century BCE – Bhagavad Gītā
    The Gītā (often dated roughly between 200 BCE and 200 CE) presents a psychologically rich dialogue: Arjuna’s crisis, analysis of anxiety and despondency, typology of guṇa‑based personalities, and four yogas as integrated methods of cognitive–emotional transformation.

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