Central and East European
Society for Phenomenology

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229469

Phenomena and mental functions

Karl Bühler and Stumpf's program in psychology

Denis Fisette

pp. 191-228

Abstract

This study focuses on the influence of the work of Carl Stumpf on the thought of Karl Bühler. Our working hypothesis is based on the philosophical program that Bühler attributes to Stumpf and to which several of his works are largely indebted. It is divided into five parts. The first is intended to establish a relationship between Bühler and the school of Brentano to which Stumpf belongs. In the second part, I show that Bühler became aware of Brentano’s ideas and of Stumpf’s program during a stay at the Institute of Psychology of Berlin during the winter semester 1904-1905, and I briefly comment, in the third part, on Bühler’s references to the work of Stumpf and on two of his books in which he defended Stumpf’s program against his critics. After having established the solid knowledge that Bühler had of Stumpf’s work, I outline, in the fourth part, the main aspects of this program and evaluate, in the fifth, how Bühler uses it in the field of sensory phenomena (gestalt). I conclude this study with several remarks on Stumpf’s positive evaluation of the work of Bühler.

Publication details

Published in:

(2016) Brentano Studien 14.

Pages: 191-228

Full citation:

Fisette Denis (2016) „Phenomena and mental functions: Karl Bühler and Stumpf's program in psychology“. Brentano Studien 14, 191–228.