Freud Sigmund was among the earliest philosophers whose work borrowed from the psychology discipline as it is known today. According to his 1932 lecture on psychoanalysis of Freud distinguished science from philosophy by branding psychoanalysis as the philosophy of life. In an attempt to dissociate science from philosophy, Freud argued that philosophy clung to the tradition methods of creating illusion about the universe without giving much thought to the intuitions which determine the most coherent picture of the universe (Sokal, 2001).
In the theory of positivism, Freud rejected the notion which had been previously out forward by other philosophers that God would die and that there were no “scientific men” as the story of creation placed the theory. This aspect of philosophy formed the basis of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory where he believed that human beings were driven by two major conflicting desires namely life drive and death drive. In this case positivism played a great role at ensuring that all human beings who were focused had to look up to God for survival and at the same time live positively. Positivism is a vital aspect in psychology as it was significant in the formulation of the discipline (Eijk, 2005).
Wilhelm Wundt also known as the “father of experimental psychology” established the very first formal laboratory where he conducted studies on mental disorders, religious beliefs and abnormal disorders in relation to the human brain. This was the basis of psychology as the neural causes of mental problems were defined through Wundt’s experiments. The concept of structuralism which describes an individual’s mental status as having an impact on his behavior is a key aspect in the development of psychology as a discipline (Sokal, 2001).
The other philosopher whose work relates with the historical development of psychology as a discipline is Nikolai Lossky who employed his notion of intuition and memory to develop the philosophy of...