In the philosophy of mind, associationism began as a theory about how ideas combine in the mind. John Locke suggested that each of us was born without any innate capabilities - a Tabula Rasa - which learned to form representations as a result of experiences, rather than of reason. "Experimental Psychology", as David Hume (1711-1776) called it, was concerned with studying the mind as a mirror of representations of nature, constantly trying to make sense of the world. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was among those criticising Hume’s focus on experiences, claiming that knowledge must be the result of an either God-given or evolved rationality, but that the nature of the mind made direct observations impossible. Despite his theories, the empirical methodology begun by the associationists kept its stronghold, and before the end of the nineteenth century experiments were conducted in areas such as memory and animal learning. This theory sets up that all consciousness is the result of the combination, in accordance with the law of association, of certain simple and ultimate elements derived from sense experiences. It was developed by David Hartley and advanced by James Mill. Philosophy of mind is the philosophical study of the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, and consciousness. ... John Locke John Locke (August 29, 1632 – October 28, 1704) was a 17th-century philosopher concerned primarily with society and epistemology. ... Tabula rasa (Latin: scraped tablet, though often translated blank slate) is the notion that individual human beings are born blank (with no built-in mental content), and that their identity is defined entirely by events after birth. ... David Hume David Hume (April 26, 1711 – August 25, 1776) (N.B. The birthdate is May 7 by the Gregorian reckoning of his time; this date being used by the International Humanist and Ethical Union when celebrating his birthday) was a Scottish philosopher and historian and, with Adam Smith and... Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804) was a German philosopher and scientist (astrophysics, mathematics, geography, anthropology) from Prussia, generally regarded as one of Europes most influential thinkers and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment. ... The term God is capitalized in the English language as a proper noun when used to refer to a specific monotheistic concept of a Supreme Being. ... In philosophy, reason or rationality (adjective can be either rational or reasonable, each giving a slightly different meaning, and both of which are also related to the word logical) describes a type of thought or aspect of thought, especially abstract thought, which is felt to be especially human. ... Memory is a function of the brain: the ability to retain information. ... Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ... James Mill James Mill (April 6, 1773 - June 23, 1836), historian and philosopher, was born at Northwater Bridge, in the parish of Logie-Pert, Forfarshire, the son of James Mill, a shoemaker. ...

In the early history of socialism, associationism was one term used by early-nineteenth-century followers of the utopian theories of such thinkers as Robert Owen, Claude Henri de Saint-Simon, and Charles Fourier to describe their beliefs. // Early socialists The word socialism came into English from French in the 1820s, but the idea that goods should be held in common and that all men should be equal is much older. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Robert Owen Robert Owen continues to be looked up to in this Manchester statue Robert Owen (May 14, 1771 – November 17, 1858) was a Welsh social reformer. ... Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon (October 17, 1760 - May 19, French socialism, was born in Paris. ... François Marie Charles Fourier was a French utopian socialist. ...

See also

• Association_(psychology)
• Conditioning
• Connectionism

In psychology and marketing, two concepts or stimuli are associated when the experience of one leads to the effects of another, due to repeated pairing. ... Conditioning is a psychological term for what Ivan Pavlov described as the learning of conditional behavior. ... Connectionism is an approach in the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology and philosophy of mind. ...

External links

• Pre-History of Cognitive Science.