The Link Between Psychology and Philosophy

First, it was psychology. A six-year-old tricking himself into studying human behavior for years to come. That's how it all started.

However, that certainly was not the end. When it comes to understanding human thought and mental processes, such explorations often lead to a similar concept. Rather than the processes of the human mind, this field studies its perception and handling of the world. This field is known as philosophy. A field of human thought possessed and explored since the beginning of our existence. Classic questions such as "Why are we here?" and "What's our purpose here?" come to mind. It encompasses any opinion and moral, by definition. So then how does one make the jump from how one reacts to a situation, to one's opinion on life? More philosophically speaking: why does the jump occur?

Right off the bat, both fields share multiple familiar traits. They're both about human perception and reaction. Just about any mental process has a significant impact in both fields. However, there are key differences as well. One could ask "How could a psychologist not make the jump to philosophy?" The answer to that question is relatively simple: Psychology is about the malleable and intricate inner workings of the thinking machine that is the human mind. Philosophy, on the other hand, is about what that machine imprints both intellectually and physically. Both upon itself and the world around it. Simply put, psychology is a formula of all of the experiences our minds experience, as well as any traits our minds specifically possess. Philosophy is the product of that formula. It is our mental state put into action. This means that on top of psychology attempts to understand the complex human mind, philosophy explores the intangible products of our experiences, as well as the social and individual effects of one's certain handling of life. Wrestling one tough beast is certainly easier than wrestling two.

Yet it is nearly impossible to fully comprehend one field without some knowledge in the other. These two fields are directly related due to their roots, the human mind. Both of these fields support and affect each other constantly throughout anyone's life. The link is that they are nearly one and the same. They share many familiar traits, yet have distinctly different natures. Different explorations and purposes. It is this that forces them to be vastly different fields of knowledge, in their natures and mindsets. It's almost fascinating how these two studies can encapsulate a massive trove of information, all of it save the roots of both fields being separate study and knowledge. In psychology, you would study the human mind, but in philosophy, you would explore how the handlings of life can cause both joy and harm. So on and so forth.

I hope everyone enjoyed this blog post! It was a little all over the place, but I think I did a good job of pulling it all together. If anyone has any questions, I'd love to discuss! And a good day to all of you.