Abstract
Russo Krauss outlines Wilhelm Wundt’s twofold strategy to respond to the new trend in experimental-physiological psychology. On the one side, he developed a theory about the purely psychological principles that characterize mental life (actuality, creative synthesis, relational analysis, and contrast amplification). On the other hand, he wrote a series of articles that attacked the “materialism” of the position maintained by his former pupils and allies, Hugo Münsterberg, Oswald Külpe, and Richard Avenarius. Regarding the latter, Wundt’s insisting on Avenarius being a philosopher, rather than a scientist, demonstrates the key role played by Avenarius in the debate on the philosophical foundation of scientific psychology.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
In the article Külpe is mentioned only once, in a footnote. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that the paper was directed against him. In fact, in a letter to Külpe , Wundt gives him advance notice of the forthcoming publication of the article on the definition of psychology , aiming at “rectifying” Külpe’s arguments (Wundt to Külpe, September 18, 1895, Fuchs and Meyer 2017, 30–31).
- 2.
There are three articles with this title. The first one is directed against the philosophy of immanence, whose representatives were Wilhelm Schuppe and Richard von Schubert-Soldern. The second and the third ones are against Empiriocriticism , and Avenarius in particular.
- 3.
For more details on this topic I suggest reading Araujo thorough account in the paragraph “The Theoretical Principles of Psychology ” (Araujo 2015, 191ff.).
- 4.
On the role of Steinthal in Avenarius’ formation, see Russo Krauss (2013, 317ff.).
- 5.
Wundt refers to the famous profession of ignorance made by Emil du Bois-Reymond in his speech Über die Grenzen des Naturerkennens (On the Limits of Our Understanding of Nature) in 1872.
References
Araujo, Saulo de Freitas. 2015. Wundt and the Philosophical Foundations of Psychology: A Reappraisal. Heidelberg: Springer.
Avenarius, Richard. 1888. Kritik der reinen Erfahrung. Vol. 1. 2 vols. Leipzig: Fues.
———. 1890. Kritik der reinen Erfahrung. Vol. 2. 2 vols. Leipzig: Fues.
———. 1894—1895. “Bemerkungen Zum Begriff des Gegenstandes der Psychologie.” Vierteljahrsschrift Für Wissenschaftliche Philosophie 18–19: 137–61, 400–420, 1–18, 129–45.
———. [1891] 1905. Der menschliche Weltbegriff. Leipzig: Reisland.
Du Bois-Reymond, Emil. 1872. Über die Grenzen des Naturerkennens. Leipzig: Veit & Comp.
Ebbinghaus, Hermann. 1902. Grundzüge der psychologie. Vol. 1. 2 vols. Leipzig: Veit & Comp.
Eisler, Rudolf. 1899. Wörterbuch der philosophischen Begriffe und Ausdrücke. Berlin: Mittler und Sohn.
Fuchs, Thomas, and Till Meyer, eds. 2017. Wilhelm Wundt im Kreise seiner Schüler: Der Briefwechsel mit Oswald Külpe, Ernst Meumann und Hugo Münsterberg. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag.
Grünbaum, Heinrich. 1899. “Zur Kritik der modernen Causalanschauungen.” Archiv für systematische Philosophie 5: 324–64.
Heinrich, Wladyslaw. 1899. Die moderne physiologische Psychologie in Deutschland. Eine historisch-kritische Untersuchung mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Problems der Aufmerksamkeit. Zürich: E. Speidel.
Russo Krauss, Chiara. 2013. Il sistema dell’esperienza pura. Struttura e genesi dell’empiriocriticismo di Richard Avenarius. Firenze: Le Càriti.
Spinoza, Benedictus de. 2016. The Collected Works of Spinoza. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Titchener, Edward B. 1929. Systematic Psychology. Prolegomena. New York: Macmillan.
Wolff, Christian. 1732. Psychologia Empirica Methodo Scientifica Pertractata. Frankfurt and Leipzig: Renger.
Wundt, Wilhelm. 1883. Logik: eine Untersuchung der Principien der Erkenntniss und der Methoden wissenschaftlicher Forschung. II. Methodenlehre. 1st ed. Stuttgart: Enke.
———. 1889. System der Philosophie. 1st ed. Leipzig: Engelmann.
———. 1893. Logik: eine Untersuchung der Principien der Erkenntniss und der Methoden wissenschaftlicher Forschung. I. Erkenntnislehre. 2nd ed. Stuttgart: Enke.
———. 1894. “Über Psychische Causalität Und Das Princip Des Psychophysischen Parallelismus.” Philosophische Studien 10 (1): 1–124.
———. 1895. Logik: eine Untersuchung der Principien der Erkenntniss und der Methoden wissenschaftlicher Forschung. II. Methodenlehre. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. 2 vols. Stuttgart: Enke.
———. 1896a. Grundriss der Psychologie. Leipzig: Engelmann.
———. 1896b. “Über Die Definition Der Psychologie.” Philosophische Studien 12: 1–66.
———. 1897. Outlines of Psychology. Translated by Charles Hubbard Judd. New York: G.E. Stechert.
———. 1898. “Über Naiven Und Kritischen Realismus. II. Der Empiriokritizismus.” Philosophische Studien 13: 1–105, 323–433.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Russo Krauss, C. (2019). Wundt’s Reaction. In: Wundt, Avenarius, and Scientific Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12637-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12637-7_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12636-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12637-7
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)