PSYC 3140 Lecture 52: PSYC 3140 Lecture 52
9 May 2018
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PSYC 3140
Lecture 52
a. For Nietzsche, the most basic motive for human behavior was the will to
power.
i. The will to power can be fully satisfied only if a person acts as he
or she feels—that is, acts in such a way as to satisfy all instincts:
ii. “The will to power is the primitive motive force out of which all
other motives have been derived”
iii. All concepts of good, bad and happiness are related to the will to
power.
1. The will to power is the tendency to gain mastery over one’s
self and destiny – seek new experiences and ultimately
reach his or her full postetial.
2. The only reality is the will of every centre of power to
become stronger, not self-preservation, but the desire to
appropriate, to become master, more, and stronger.
3. Nietzche with Spinoza and Schopenhauer that the master
human motive was self-preservation.
b. Supermen
i. people approaching their full potential are supermen because
morality does not govern their lives.
ii. Supermen rise above morality and live independent, creative lives.
2. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche both:
Document Summary
Early developments in physiology and the rise of experimental psych: evolution of psychology from pure philosophy has been gradual, we have seen several variations of the mind-body debate dating from plato. & continuing to the present: in the early 19th century a focus on biology and laboratory experimentation exploded. Scientific method was being directed toward the study of the mechanisms of the physical world. Question: by what mechanisms do empirical events come to be represented in consciousness: helmholtz, weber, and fechner and their students were pioneers in experimental psychology. Wundt synthesized their work into a unified program of research organized around certain beliefs, procedures and methods: studied relationships between physical and mental worlds, initiated scientific search for laws of behavior, an interest since the. Greek era: devised methods to quantify mental processes, introduced biological processes as a valid interest in psychology.
