David Hartley's Newtonian neuropsychology.
C U Smith
Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences April 1, 1987 DOI: 10.1002/1520-6696(198704)23:2<123::aid-jhbs2300230203>3.0.co;2-d (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Humans Neuropsychology Neurophysiology History, 18th century England |
| Key points | Argues that David Hartley's vibration theory, closely tied to Newtonian physics, strongly shaped his associationist psychology and, despite being superseded, prefigures aspects of contemporary neurophysiology and philosophy of mind. |
Abstract
David Hartley's association psychology has been immensely influential. His vibrationist neurophysiology has, in contrast, been largely overlooked and forgotten. Hartley's vibration theory is examined. On the one hand it is shown how closely it is related to Sir Isaac Newton's mathematical physics and on the other how well it complements the association theory. The vibration theory, indeed, strongly influenced Hartley's associationist psychology and hence is of more than merely antiquarian interest. Although Hartley's understanding of the central nervous system has long been superseded, his general ideas prefigure some aspects of contemporary neurophysiology and philosophy of mind and thus provide a further reason for rescuing his vibrationism from oblivion.