Since ancient times, thanks to the social needs a person had to distinguish and take into account individual psychological characteristics of people. Even then, people began to think about the existence of a spiritual principle, which has guided their behavior. Psychology, as a special scientific discipline, was born in the depths of philosophy, and so the psychological "dimension" of identity is very difficult to identify and explore not focusing on the philosophical doctrine of man, the specifics of its existence (individual and public), about the nature of human consciousness and activity. The formation of psychology as a science has a long history. From ancient Greece there were attempts to explain psychic phenomena. The psyche and the soul were considered as an indispensable attribute of nature: everything has a soul, and it, in turn, is a source of movement and development. The soul is independent of the physical body substance, which affects the destiny of man, his health and success. This approach is called animism (from the Latin “Anima” - soul, spirit). In future the understandings of the nature of psyche have been developed by Democritus and Plato. Democritus is the ancestor of materialist views on the psyche; he believed that the soul is composed of atoms. He gave an explanation of the phenomenon of causality and showed that there are no unreasonable phenomena. Plato, on the contrary, spoke about the primary and secondary ideas of the material world. He believed that any knowledge is the process of recollection of the soul, from Plato originated the philosophy of idealism. A fundamentally different view of the soul has been given by Aristotle in his psychological treatise "On the soul". According to Aristotle, the soul is nothing but a form of living organic body, soul provides a destination. It is the basis of all life manifestations and inseparable from the body. This situation is completely contrary to the teachings of Plato on the penetration of souls at birth and their leaving after death, but both philosophers agree that the soul defines the purpose of the activity of a living body. Aristotle gave one of the earliest formulations of explanatory principles of psychology – development, determinism, integrity, activity. The great minds of antiquity assumed that there is a relationship of mind and brain. They believed that the mind depends on the environment and distinguished sustainable individual features of the human psyche. (C. George Boeree, 2006)
In 3 - 4 centuries BC in the works of Plato (205 - 270), Aurelius Augustine (354 - 430) and the early Christian philosophers and theologians as a research subject stands out man's inner world, the possibility of self-knowledge, for the first time appear descriptions of the phenomena of consciousness, such as its focus on the subject, highlighted by Thomas Aquinas (1226 - 1274). From 5 to 14 centuries in the works of Thomas Aquinas, Boethius (480 - 524), Duns Scotus (1256 - 1308) develops an idea of the personality. It is important to note that the powerful influence of Christian theology, the foundations of which included the neo-Platonic philosophy, gave these works ethic and theological character, bringing it closer to the line laid down by the doctrine of Plato. The peak and the end stage of the development of psychological knowledge in the framework of the doctrine of the soul was the system of views of Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626). The novelty of the approach was Bacon's refusal to address the speculative nature of the soul and the transition to the empirical study of its features. However, that intention could not be realized, because at that time were not yet formed representations about scientific methods and about the subject. Bacon, in accordance with tradition separated the science about the body from the science about the soul, and in the study of the science about the soul has allocated science about rational and divine soul and irrational, feeling, bodily soul common to humans and animals. Representations of the soul changed radically after Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) introduced the concept of "consciousness". It was considered as a criterion for distinguishing the body and soul. Introspection, according to Descartes, is so obvious that it has been applied for the undisputed evidence of the existence of the subject formulated in the form of the aphorism "I think, therefore I exist." According to the criterion of introspection, only a man has a soul, and the animals do not have souls and act like mechanical devices. Descartes teaching has made the foundation of the new psychological knowledge, because it introduced the concept: about the leading role of the outside world in the determination of behavior as well as its mechanistic interpretation; about the availability of the inner world through introspection; reflexion as a mechanism of behavior; about psychophysical problem and its dualistic decision. By the mid-17th century experience has been adopted as a matter of philosophical epistemology. The concept of experience included ideas, sensations, feelings and the results of self-observation. At this time, was formed and has come to dominate the idea that knowledge is based on experience. This view goes back to sensationalism, teaching, formed in antiquity, according to which there is nothing in the mind, which was not previously in a sense. The essential role of representation about the experience determined the name of the whole direction of research within the philosophy of knowledge - empirical psychology. The development of empiricism in the philosophical theory of knowledge is associated with the appearance of the name of a new discipline - psychology. (Eric L. Johnson et al., 2000)
In the late 18th - early 19th centuries the psychological knowledge begins to go beyond philosophy - in linguistics, in biology, in ethnography and medicine. Darwin outlined non-teleological explanation of goal-directed behavior, studied instinctive behavior and emotions, showed the evolutionary origin of some forms of human behavior; Spencer formulated the principle of adaptation of organisms to the environment; the English neurologist Jackson successfully studied the patterns of localization and distribution of mental functions provision by various brain structures, Galton raised the question about heredity of psychological characteristics. During this period, the major problem became elaboration of relations of psychology to such general scientific values, formed at that time in natural science disciplines, as methods of experimental research, the requirements for its objectivity, generality and quantitative character of knowledge. Thus, at a time when psychological knowledge formed in the depths of the other sciences, there was a rejection of pre-scientific understanding of the soul as immaterial incorporeal substance. Consciousness and human experience began to be studied on the basis of self-observation. There emerged a need to move from philosophical research of epistemological type to concrete scientific methods. During the development of psychological knowledge in the depths of the other sciences has not happened formation of the necessary components of the structure of scientific knowledge - of its own subject matter and method, institutions such as specialized laboratories, scientific periodicals, providing communication of the scientific community, there was no community of professional psychologists. (Wade E. Pickren et al, 2010)
In the 60s of the 19th century begins a new period of development of psychological science. It is characterized by the following features:
1. Contacts with the other sciences develop, thus creating new paradigms and branches of psychology;
2. Within the paradigms are formed ideas about the subject and method of research;
3. There is great diversity and competition of paradigms;
4. The new scientific paradigms, institutions and professional psychological communities appear;
5. Subject and method of psychology are agreed with general scientific norms and values.
Making psychology as an independent discipline is associated with the emergence of the first scientific programs created by Wundt and Sechenov. Wundt's program focused on the general scientific experimental method, but the only direct method of psychology Wundt called self- observation, as the subject of psychology - a direct experience of the individual. The role of the experiment is limited to giving to the results of investigations the accuracy and reliability. Wundt's crucial role in the development of psychology as an independent discipline was that it was he who organized the first specialized institutes of psychological science. In 1879, Wundt founded the scientific laboratory in Leipzig, and in 1881 - the scientific journal "Philosophical Investigations". Wundt also established a fixed membership in the scientific psychological community due to holding in Paris in 1889 of the First International Congress of Psychology. Introspection, proposed by Wundt as a method of psychology, has been further developed in the paradigm of structural psychology, founded by Titchener (1867 - 1927), successor of Wundt's ideas in the United States. (Gary Hatfield, 2002)
The structure of modern psychology represents all the stages of its development. Stringent requirements of research practices, as well as intra- and inter-paradigmatic critique lead to the transformation of borrowed principles and concepts. Competition and the relationship of paradigms in psychology lead to its intensive development. We can highlight some of the main directions of development of modern psychological sciences:
1. The development of existing paradigms. For example, based on activity theory appeared psycho-semantics. The subject of its research is the genesis, structure and functioning of the system of values in the individual consciousness. It uses modern methods and does not require the method of introspection;
2. The emergence of new paradigms. For instance, in 1950 - 1960-ies appeared humanistic psychology; the subject of its study is an integral identity of the person;
3. The formation of the different versions of the explanatory principles, ideas about the subject and method of psychology. In 1960 - 1980-ies on the basis of the integrity principle was formulated the principle of systems. In various paradigms are worked out various aspects of this principle;
4. The emergence of new explanatory principles. For example, the principle of subjectivity more fully outlines the subject and method of psychology, and now it is going through a phase of intensive development;
5. The development of the relations of psychology with other sciences. This process leads to the emergence of new branches of psychology. So, in contact of psychology with neurology, psychophysiology and neurophysiology is formed neuropsychology, with the linguistics - psycholinguistics, with population genetics - genetic psychophysiology. (Duane P. Schultz et al, 2008)
References
C. George Boeree. (2006). The History of Psychology. Shippensburg University Press, 3-28.
Gary Hatfield. (2002). Psychology, Philosophy, and Cognitive Science: Reflections on the History and Philosophy of Experimental Psychology. Mind & Language Journal, 207-224.
Eric L. Johnson & Stanton L. Jones. (2000). A History of Christians in Psychology. Journal of Psychology & Christianity, 1-20.
Wade E. Pickren& Alexandra Rutherford. (2010). A history of modern psychology in context. A John Wiley & Sons, INC., Publication, 8-27.
Lynne Cohen, Julie Ann Pooley, Alison Clarke-Stewart, Louis A. Penner, Edward J. Roy, Douglas A. Bernstein, Stephen Provost, Bethanie Gouldthorp, Jacquelyn Cranney. (2013). Psychology: An International Discipline in Context. Cengage Learning Publication, 14-20.
Duane P. Schultz&Sydney Ellen Schultz. (2008). A History of Modern Psychology. University of South Florida Press, 490-517.
