How Did The Renaissance Influence Psychology

The time period referred to as the Renaissance refers to the time between the 13th and 16th centuries. This was a time in which great changes were occurring, modern civilization as we know it began to develop and the dark ages were becoming a thing of the past. This was a time of revitalization for knowledge, and the sciences, including philosophy and psychology. The views and attitudes of the people were also changing. In the past, philosophy and psychology went hand in hand.

Prior to Renaissance, the focus of Psychology was to understand and measure the mind and much of that focus was dominated by religious views (Malone, 2009). Since religion was such a key factor it prevented a great deal of advancements in the field of psychology. During and after the Renaissance, religion was not as dominate of an influence and the focus became to understand human behavior. Francis Bacon was one of the influences for the start of psychology being based on “observation, not authority or reason”, or in other words based on the science not what someone is being told to believe (Malone, 2009, p. 121). The step away from religion influencing everything, essentially paved the way for many advancements in the field of psychology. …show more content…
The knowledge and influence gained from ancient Greek texts gave a renewal of previous theories and also allowed for further research into both old and new theories. The Renaissance period had many great minds, including Rene Descartes, Francis Bacon, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei, that had influences on psychology (Malone, 2009). Even hundreds of years later, the work of many of these philosophers is still being referenced and studied, showing the impact that the Renaissance had on