Live Life Team
A lot of cultures throughout history have considered the nature of the spirit, soul and mind. For example, in Egypt, the Edwin Smith Papyrus comprises the brain’s early description and a few thoughts on its vital functions. Some ancient medical documents were filled with applications and incantations intended to distract diseases that involved evil spirits and other superstitions. The Edwin Smith Papyrus provides cures for about 50 conditions and contains incantations to avoid evil.
The early Greek philosophers, who came from Thales, and even the Romans, formulated a detailed theory of what they called the ‘psuchẽ,’ the term from which the first half of the word ‘psychology’ was derived. Plato’s accounts are considered to be the most influential theory of this term, as well as Aristotle’s and Pythagoras’s, and especially Peri Psyches’s, who is known under the title De Anima. De Anima is a Latin title, which means a major writing by Aristotle about the nature of the living things. Hellenistic philosophers varied from the traditional Greek custom in various important ways, particularly in their questions about the mind’s physiological basis. Galen, a Roman physician, dealt with these concerns most influentially and elaborately. The Greek custom influenced Islamic and Christian thought on such issues. As part of its education system, China had a longer history in administering tests of ability. Likewise, in its Vedanta philosophical writings, India had an elaborated theory of “the self.”
By reconstructing what had the ancient Romans and Greeks understood by terms such as ‘psuchẽ,’ the early development of psychological thought can still be found embedded in modern psychological theory.
