Sigmund Freud Gilbert Ryle

GILBERT SIGMUND FREUD
RYLE
GILBERT RYLE
INTRODUCTION
• GILBERT RYLE (1900 - 1976) WAS A 20TH

CENTURY BRITISH PHILOSOPHER, MAINLY
ASSOCIATED WITH THE ORDINARY
LANGUAGE PHILOSOPHY MOVEMENT.
INTRODUCTION
• HE HAD AN ENORMOUS INFLUENCE ON THE

DEVELOPMENT OF 20TH CENTURY ANALYTIC
PHILOSOPHY, PARTICULARLY IN THE AREAS
OF PHILOSOPHY OF MIND AND PHILOSOPHY
OF LANGUAGE.
INTRODUCTION
• HE WAS ESPECIALLY WELL-KNOWN FOR HIS DEFINITIVE CRITIQUE

OF THE DUALISM OF DESCARTES (FOR WHICH HE COINED THE
PHRASE "THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE") AND OTHER TRADITIONAL
MIND-BODY THEORIES. HIS FORM OF PHILOSOPHICAL
BEHAVIOURISM (THE BELIEF THAT ALL MENTAL PHENOMENA CAN
BE EXPLAINED BY REFERENCE TO PUBLICLY OBSERVABLE
BEHAVIOR) BECAME A STANDARD VIEW FOR SEVERAL DECADES.
• GILBERT RYLE WAS BEST KNOWN FOR
HIS CRITICISM OF WHAT HE CALLED THE
"OFFICIAL DOCTRINE" OF "CARTESIAN
DUALISM" AS A THEORY OF MIND.
LIFE / BACKGROUND
• RYLE WAS BORN ON 19 AUGUST 1900 IN BRIGHTON,

ENGLAND, ONE OF TEN CHILDREN IN A PROSPEROUS FAMILY.
HIS FATHER WAS A DOCTOR BUT ALSO A GENERALIST WHO
HAD INTERESTS IN PHILOSOPHY AND ASTRONOMY, AND
PASSED ON TO HIS CHILDREN AN IMPRESSIVE LIBRARY, AND
THE YOUNG RYLE GREW UP IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF
LEARNING.
LIFE / BACKGROUND
• HE WAS EDUCATED AT BRIGHTON COLLEGE AND, IN 1919, HE WENT

TO QUEEN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD, INITIALLY TO STUDY CLASSICS,
ALTHOUGH HE WAS SOON DRAWN TO PHILOSOPHY. HE GRADUATED
WITH FIRST CLASS HONORS IN 1924 AND WAS APPOINTED TO A
LECTURESHIP IN PHILOSOPHY AT CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD. HE
BECAME A TUTOR A YEAR LATER, AND REMAINED AT CHRIST CHURCH
UNTIL WORLD WAR II (AND REMAINED AT OXFORD FOR HIS ENTIRE
ACADEMIC CAREER UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT IN 1968).
LIFE / BACKGROUND
• A CAPABLE LINGUIST, RYLE WAS RECRUITED TO INTELLIGENCE WORK WITH

THE WELSH GUARDS DURING WORLD WAR II, AND ROSE TO THE RANK OF
MAJOR BY THE END OF THE WAR. HE RETURNED TO OXFORD IN 1945
WHERE HE WAS ELECTED WAYNFLETE PROFESSOR OF METAPHYSICAL
PHILOSOPHY AND FELLOW OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD. HE WAS
GENERALLY REGARDED AS EASY-GOING AND SOCIABLE AND AN
ENTERTAINING CONVERSATIONALIST, BUT A FIERCE AND FORMIDABLE
DEBATER, UNFORGIVING OF POMPOSITY AND PRETENTIOUSNESS.
LIFE / BACKGROUND
• HE WAS PRESIDENT OF THE ARISTOTELIAN SOCIETY

FROM 1945 TO 1946, AND EDITOR OF THE
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL "MIND" FOR NEARLY
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS FROM 1947 TO 1971. HE
PUBLISHED HIS PRINCIPAL WORK, "THE CONCEPT
OF MIND", IN 1949.
LIFE / BACKGROUND
• A CONFIRMED BACHELOR, HE LIVED AFTER HIS RETIREMENT

IN 1968 WITH HIS TWIN SISTER, MARY, IN THE VILLAGE OF
ISLIP, OXFORDSHIRE. GARDENING AND WALKING GAVE HIM
IMMENSE PLEASURE, AS DID HIS PIPE (WITHOUT WHICH HE
WAS RARELY SEEN). RYLE DIED ON 6 OCTOBER 1976 AT
WHITBY IN NORTH YORKSHIRE, AFTER A DAY'S WALKING ON
THE MOORS.
• IN HIS WRITING, RYLE HAD A LITERARY AND INSTANTLY
RECOGNIZABLE STYLE. HE IS MAINLY KNOWN FOR HIS
BOOK, "THE CONCEPT OF MIND" (1949), BUT HE ALSO
WROTE A COLLECTION OF SHORTER PIECES CALLED
"DILEMMAS" (1954), AS WELL AS "PLATO'S
PROGRESS" (1966) AND "ON THINKING" (1979). "THE
CONCEPT OF MIND" IN PARTICULAR WAS RECOGNIZED
ON ITS APPEARANCE AS AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION
TO PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY OF
MIND, AND AN IMPORTANT WORK IN THE ORDINARY
LANGUAGE PHILOSOPHY MOVEMENT.
• IN HIS "THE CONCEPT OF MIND" OF 1949, RYLE ATTACKED THE
BODY-MIND DUALISM (THE CLAIM THAT THE MIND IS AN
INDEPENDENT ENTITY, INHABITING AND GOVERNING THE BODY)
WHICH HAS LARGELY PERMEATED WESTERN PHILOSOPHY SINCE
RENÉ DESCARTES IN THE 17TH CENTURY, REJECTING IT AS A
REDUNDANT PIECE OF LITERALISM CARRIED OVER FROM THE ERA
BEFORE THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES BECAME ESTABLISHED. HE
DISMISSED THE IDEA THAT NATURE IS A COMPLEX MACHINE, AND
THAT HUMAN NATURE IS A SMALLER MACHINE WITH A "GHOST" IN
IT TO ACCOUNT FOR INTELLIGENCE, SPONTANEITY AND OTHER
SUCH HUMAN QUALITIES (HE REFERRED TO DESCARTES' MODEL
AS "THE DOGMA OF THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE").
• RYLE BELIEVED THAT THE CLASSICAL THEORIES (WHETHER
CARTESIAN, IDEALIST OR MATERIALIST) MADE A BASIC
"CATEGORY-MISTAKE" BY ATTEMPTING TO ANALYZE THE
RELATION BETWEEN "MIND" AND "BODY" AS IF THEY WERE
TERMS OF THE SAME LOGICAL CATEGORY. HE ARGUED THAT
PHILOSOPHERS DO NOT NEED A "HIDDEN" PRINCIPLE TO
EXPLAIN THE SUPRA-MECHANICAL CAPACITIES OF HUMANS,
BECAUSE THE WORKINGS OF THE MIND ARE NOT DISTINCT
FROM THE ACTIONS OF THE BODY, BUT ARE ONE AND THE
SAME. LOOKED AT ANOTHER WAY, HE CHARACTERIZED THE
MIND AS A SET OF CAPACITIES AND ABILITIES BELONGING
TO THE BODY.
• RYLE’S BEHAVIORISM WAS A DIFFERENT SORT
FROM THAT OF PSYCHOLOGY. HE THOUGHT OF HIS
APPROACH AS A LOGICAL BEHAVIORISM, FOCUSED
ON CREATING CONCEPTUAL CLARITY, NOT ON
DEVELOPING TECHNIQUES TO CONDITION AND
MANIPULATE HUMAN BEHAVIOR
SIGMUND FREUD
LIFE / BACKGROUND
• FREUD WAS BORN IN FRIEBERG, MORAVIA

IN 1856, BUT WHEN HE WAS FOUR YEARS
OLD HIS FAMILY MOVED TO VIENNA WHERE
HE WAS TO LIVE AND WORK UNTIL THE
LAST YEARS OF HIS LIFE.
LIFE / BACKGROUND
• SIGMUND FREUD (1856 TO 1939) WAS THE

FOUNDING FATHER OF PSYCHOANALYSIS,
A METHOD FOR TREATING
MENTAL ILLNESS AND ALSO A THEORY
WHICH EXPLAINS HUMAN BEHAVIOUR.
LIFE / BACKGROUND
• SIGMUND FREUD WAS ONE OF THE MOST

INFLUENTIAL PSYCHOLOGIST,
PHYSIOLOGIST AND PHILOSOPHER OF THE
MIND BELONGING TO THE 2OTH CENTURY.
FREUDIAN PSYCHOANALYTIC
THEORY OF PERSONALITY
• ACCORDING TO FREUD’S PSYCHOANALYTIC

THEORY, PERSONALITY DEVELOPS THROUGH A
SERIES OF STAGES, EACH CHARACTERIZED BY A
CERTAIN INTERNAL PSYCHOLOGICAL CONFLICT.
• SIGMUND FREUD ‘S PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF
PERSONALITY ARGUES THAT HUMAN BEHAVIOR
IS THE RESULT OF THE INTERACTIONS AMONG
THREE COMPONENT PARTS OF THE MIND: THE ID,
EGO, AND SUPEREGO.
• THIS THEORY, KNOWN AS FREUD’S
STRUCTURAL THEORY OF PERSONALITY,
PLACES GREAT EMPHASIS ON THE ROLE OF
UNCONSCIOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL CONFLICTS
IN SHAPING BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY.
ID, EGO AND SUPEREGO
• THE EGO DEVELOPS FROM THE ID DURING INFANCY.

THE EGO'S GOAL IS TO SATISFY THE DEMANDS OF
THE ID IN A SAFE A SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE WAY. IN
CONTRAST TO THE ID, THE EGO FOLLOWS THE
REALITY PRINCIPLE AS IT OPERATES IN BOTH THE
CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS MIND.
ID
• THE ID, THE MOST PRIMITIVE OF THE THREE STRUCTURES, IS

CONCERNED WITH INSTANT GRATIFICATION OF BASIC PHYSICAL
NEEDS AND URGES. IT OPERATES ENTIRELY UNCONSCIOUSLY
(OUTSIDE OF CONSCIOUS THOUGHT). FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOUR ID
WALKED PAST A STRANGER EATING ICE CREAM, IT WOULD MOST
LIKELY TAKE THE ICE CREAM FOR ITSELF. IT DOESN’T KNOW, OR CARE,
THAT IT IS RUDE TO TAKE SOMETHING BELONGING TO SOMEONE ELSE;
IT WOULD CARE ONLY THAT YOU WANTED THE ICE CREAM.
EGO
• IN CONTRAST TO THE INSTINCTUAL ID AND THE MORAL

SUPEREGO, THE EGO IS THE RATIONAL, PRAGMATIC PART
OF OUR PERSONALITY. IT IS LESS PRIMITIVE THAN THE ID
AND IS PARTLY CONSCIOUS AND PARTLY UNCONSCIOUS.
IT’S WHAT FREUD CONSIDERED TO BE THE “SELF,” AND
ITS JOB IS TO BALANCE THE DEMANDS OF THE ID AND
SUPEREGO IN THE PRACTICAL CONTEXT OF REALITY.
SUPEREGO
• THE SUPEREGO IS CONCERNED WITH SOCIAL RULES AND

MORALS—SIMILAR TO WHAT MANY PEOPLE CALL THEIR ”
CONSCIENCE ” OR THEIR “MORAL COMPASS.” IT DEVELOPS
AS A CHILD LEARNS WHAT THEIR CULTURE CONSIDERS
RIGHT AND WRONG. IF YOUR SUPEREGO WALKED PAST THE
SAME STRANGER, IT WOULD NOT TAKE THEIR ICE CREAM
BECAUSE IT WOULD KNOW THAT THAT WOULD BE RUDE.
CRITICISM OF FREUD’S THEORIES
• ALTHOUGH FREUD’S THEORIES HAVE MANY

ADVANTAGES THAT HELPED TO EXPAND OUR
PSYCHOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF
PERSONALITY, THEY ARE NOT WITHOUT LIMITS.

Sigmund Freud Gilbert Ryle

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sigmund Freud Gilbert Ryle

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sigmund Freud Gilbert Ryle

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

GILBERT SIGMUND FREUD

• GILBERT RYLE (1900 - 1976) WAS A 20TH

• HE HAD AN ENORMOUS INFLUENCE ON THE

• HE WAS ESPECIALLY WELL-KNOWN FOR HIS DEFINITIVE CRITIQUE

• RYLE WAS BORN ON 19 AUGUST 1900 IN BRIGHTON,

• HE WAS EDUCATED AT BRIGHTON COLLEGE AND, IN 1919, HE WENT

• A CAPABLE LINGUIST, RYLE WAS RECRUITED TO INTELLIGENCE WORK WITH

• HE WAS PRESIDENT OF THE ARISTOTELIAN SOCIETY

• A CONFIRMED BACHELOR, HE LIVED AFTER HIS RETIREMENT

• FREUD WAS BORN IN FRIEBERG, MORAVIA

• SIGMUND FREUD (1856 TO 1939) WAS THE

• SIGMUND FREUD WAS ONE OF THE MOST

• ACCORDING TO FREUD’S PSYCHOANALYTIC

• THE EGO DEVELOPS FROM THE ID DURING INFANCY.

• THE ID, THE MOST PRIMITIVE OF THE THREE STRUCTURES, IS

• IN CONTRAST TO THE INSTINCTUAL ID AND THE MORAL

• THE SUPEREGO IS CONCERNED WITH SOCIAL RULES AND

• ALTHOUGH FREUD’S THEORIES HAVE MANY

You might also like