The History of
Psychology
The Era of Science in Great Britain
Adam Smith (1723-1790) The
Wealth of Nations and Theory
of Moral Sentiments (McMaster
University Economics Archives) – Smith is most famous for his carefully crafted
theory of economics in which he viewed the flow of wealth as being a matter
governed by the natural success or failure of human enterprise and the
psychology of individual progress. This
idea significantly influenced the later work of Charles Darwin in his
conception of the laws of nature which produce species, intellect, and
behavior. It may be argued that Smith’s
approach to economics creates the hallmark for British and, then, American
thought – practicality.
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) Introduction
to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (McMaster University Economics
Archives) – Bentham headed the school of British “Utilitarianism” which guided
social thinking about the Industrial Revolution and “pragmatism” which, in the
hands of William James, resulted in the American school of psychological
Funtionalism.
Thomas Young
(1773-1829) represents the advent of modern physical science in England. Principally know as a physicist, Young also
proposed a theory of color vision that
Helmholtz later developed into the “tri-chromatic” theory of color perception
(sometimes called the “Young-Helmholtz” theory). It was
proposed that humans see color as mixtures of three primary colors – red,
green, and blue. This is the underlying
means by which color television works.
Charles Bell (1774-1842) was an expert surgeon and
contributor to what has become known as the “neurosciences”. His astute observations resulted in, among
many other findings, the “Bell-Magendie law"
(simultaneously discovered by Francois Magendie)—the demonstration of the motor
function of anterior roots and the sensory function of dorsal roots in spinal
nerves.
Thomas
Malthus' (1766-1834) Principles of Population (McMaster University) was one of the stimuli for
Charles Darwin’s work. Malthus
described the relationship between the growth and diminishing of human
populations as related to the production of food. There is an obvious limit to how much food can be available and
that limit, consequently, governs the proliferation of people. Thus environmental exigencies control the
development of species.
Queen Victoria (1819-1901)
John Stuart
Mill's (1806-1873) Autobiography (McMaster University), On the Subjection of Women, and Utilitarianism (Bjorn’s Guide to Philosophy) are representative of
J. S. Mill’s important work. The
Autobiography traces a most eccentric childhood under the parenting of James Mill,
John Stuart’s philosopher father. J.S.
Mill is noted for his theory of “mental chemistry” in which psychology is
analogous to chemical relationships and interactions. The younger Mill was also an early advocate of women’s rights and other relatively liberal
political doctrines. Finally, he was a
major contributor to the Utilitarian movement in English philosophy which
contributed, later, to American Pragmatism and ultimately to Functional
Psychology. The predominant political
figure of Mill’s time was Queen Victoria.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's (1797-1851) Frankenstein,
The New Prometheus (University of Virginia) explores a major question
of the time: the moral limits to the advance of science. The underlying clash between the classical
and existential edification of human ability and intellect versus the romantic
recourse to human feelings and love fills this important book. Mary’s husband was the great romantic poet
of human progress, Percy Shelley
(right). Mary composed her novel when
she was eighteen years old.
Percy Bysshe
Shelley (1792-1822) sketch by Mary
Charles Babbage’s (1792-1871) "The Economy of Machinery and
Manufacturers" (1832) (McMaster University) is one of the first books on
industrial psychology – the study of how people and machines interrelate to
produce goods. Babbage designed the
“difference engine” to make arithmetic calculations and is thus one of the
founders computer science.
Charles Dickens (Knowledge Matters) (1812-1870) was one of
the most famous of British Novelists.
His fiction demonstrates a keen understanding of human psychology, particularly
of the details of mental disorder and manipulation. Dickens realistically portrays various sorts of schizophrenia,
mental retardation, and anti social personality. He was also a remarkable critic of the human condition.
Robert
Owen's Principles of Character (1813-1816) demonstrates the fundamental philosophy
that directed this significant social reformer. He organized the
community of a large cotton milling complex in Scotland. His concern was establishing an environment
in which the whole family of workers was fostered and supported. Plainly, Owens saw education and family
support as directly linked to the success of the corporation. This was a novel idea in the “industrial
revolution” and was imitated widely.
(e.g., Gregg-Graniteville, South Carolina).
Charles Darwin's (1809-1882) Origin of
Species, The Descent of Man and The
Voyage of the Beagle (Knowledge Matters) and The Expression of Emotion
in Man and Animals (Malaspina) are the three monumental theoretical works
which changed psychology as well as the Western world of thought even to today.
Animals, including people, are the result of their abilities to cope
with changing environments; they are “naturally selected” by their abilities to
contend with the environment in which they live. Not only our physical structures but our patterns of behavior are
produced by the inheritance of characteristics which have succeeded in the
survival of our progenitors.
Alfred Russell Wallace (1823-1913) The Introduction of New Species (University of Bergen)
(1855) was the co-creator of the theory
of “Natural Selection” and selflessly persuaded Darwin to publish his work
first.
Herbert Spencer's (1820-1903) Man versus the State (1884, 
McMaster University) and Laws
in General (1864, Marxist Archive) – Spenser became a principal advocate
for evolutionary thinking in psychology even though he argued against “natural
selection”. His work emphasized the
evolution of psychological factors through the inheritance of acquired
structure and behavior (“evolutionary associationism”), instinct and
“teleological progressivism” (i.e., evolution continually works to improve
species). His biological speculation
was historically less important than his psychological and political ideas.
Francis Galton (1822-1911) Hereditary talent and
character, Statistics
of mental imagery, and History of twins
(York University) – Galton, promoting his conception of Darwin’s (his cousin’s)
work, saw Natural Selection as so profound a force and humanity as so advanced
a species that our evolution must be controlled by society. Thus was created the Eugenics
Movement in which society was to manipulate who should produce
children. Galton’s advances in
statistics, generated by his psychological interests, resulted in the
mathematics of correlation and the proposition of “the regression to the
mean”: exceptional parents (above or
below average) produce children who tend toward the average.
Robert Louis Stevenson's
(1850-1894) Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde (Biblomania) is a remarkable story which depicts the psychological
struggle of good versus evil in a man.
The most important musical composer
of 19th century Britain was Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934). Graduates are familiar with one of his most
famous marches, “Pomp and Circumstance #1” (he wrote 5 of these). More important, psychologically, is this
composer’s “Enigma Variations” which is a musical study of the personalities of
Elgar’s friends and loved ones.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) The Theory of Knowledge
(Marxist Archive)
Please send your comments and suggestions to Dr. William J. House
Return to the top of this page