Wundt, Avenarius, and Scientific Psychology: A Debate at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

by Chiara Russo Krauss

Overview

This book reconstructs the rise and fall of Wilhelm Wundt’s fortunes, focusing for the first time on the role of Richard Avenarius as catalyst for the so-called “positivist repudiation of Wundt.” Krauss specifically looks at the progressive disavowal of Wundtian ideas in the world of scientific psychology, and especially by his former pupils.

This book provides important historical context and a critical discussion of the current state of research, in addition to a detailed consideration of Wundt’s and Avenarius’ systems of thought, as well as on their personal relationship. The author outlines the reception of Avenarius’ conceptions among Wundt’s pupils, such as Külpe, Münsterberg and Titchener, and among other psychologists of the time, such as Ward, James and Ebbinghaus. Finally, this book presents Wundt’s two-fold attempt to respond to the new trend through a criticism of the “materialistic” psychology, and a reformulation of his own ideas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030126360
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	03/26/2019
Edition description:	1st ed. 2019
Pages:	151
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Chiara Russo Krauss, Ph.D., is researcher at the University of Naples “Federico II," where she teaches history of philosophy. Her field of expertise is German philosophy of the late 19th century, with a focus on the problems arising from the development of modern sciences. She published studies on Wilhelm von Humboldt, Neo-Kantianism, Oswald Külpe, Wilhelm Wundt, and Richard Avenarius.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 Wundt and the Rise of Scientific Psychology
1.2 The Historiography of Wundtism
1.3 Mach and Avenarius in the History of Philosophy
1.4 The Aim of the Book

Chapter 2. Richard Avenarius
2.1 Avenarius' Relationship with Wundt
2.2 The Critique of Introjection
2.3 Object and Purpose of Psychology
2.4 Mach and Avenarius
2.5 Psychophysical Parallelism
Chapter 3. Wilhelm Wundt and the Crisis in the Relationship with Avenarius
3.1 The "Ideal-Realistic" Approach
3.2 Physical and Psychical Causality
3.3 Physiology and Psychology
3.4 Psychology and the Spiritual Sciences
3.5 The Break with Avenarius
Chapter 4. The Spread of the New Definition of Psychology
4.1 The Repudiation of Wundt: Oswald Külpe’s Grundriss
4.2 A Philosophical Deepening: Hugo Münsterberg
4.3 The Circle Widens: Ebbinghaus and Ward
4.4 A Synthesis: E. B. Titchener (with a Digression on William James)
Chapter 5. Wundt's Reaction

5.1 The Appropriation of the Definition of Psychology by Point of View
5.2 Two Interpretations of Psychological Parallelism
5.3 Against the Materialistic Definition of Psychology
5.4 The Final Charge against Avenarius
5.5 Closing Remarks