The scientific method was applied to the study of physics, biology, and chemistry beginning in the 1600s, but it was almost 300 years later before it was used to study the mind

Explain why the zeitgeist of Western world in the 17th century slowed the development of psychological science.

What will be an ideal response?


Answer: A good answer will include the following key points.
? People in the 1600s were not willing to accept that the mind could be studied with science.
? Applying the scientific method to the mind would imply that the mind followed predictable laws, and would blur the lines between the body and the soul.
? At the time, most people believed in dualism: the idea that the mind or soul was separate from the body and not part of the physical world that the scientific method was designed to study.

Psychology

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