Ever since Franz Brentano complained in 1874 that psychology had split into many divergent approaches, the state of psychology often has been characterized as in crisis. These concerns were expressed particularly strongly around 1910-1930, by psychologists who were building new research paradigms that have determined the course of psychology ever since. Many researches and thinkers—such as Karl Bühler, Hans Driesch, Kurt Koffka, William Stern, Lev Vygotsky, Nikolai Kostyleff, Mary Whiton Calkins, N.N. Lange, S.L. Frank, Edmund Husserl, and a group of Marxist psychologists in Berlin—directly addressed the crisis in psychology and in related disciplines. This debate involved a reaction against the high expectations associated with the new, experimental research practices established since the 1870s, and centered on the disciplinary constitution of psychology in relation to the humanities and the natural sciences.
The goal of this conference is to reconstruct the debate between competing schools and paradigms in psychology (and neighboring disciplines) from the late nineteenth century to the 1930s, to analyze historical contexts in which particular positions evolved, and to explore the current relevance of the debate.
10.-12. Oktober 2008
Max Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte
Boltzmannstr. 22
14195 Berlin
Christian Allesch (Universität Salzburg)
Francesca Bordogna (Northwestern University)
John Carson (University of Michigan)
Jordi Cat (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Michael Cole (University of California, San Diego)
Cathy Faye (York University)
Uljana Feest (TU Berlin)
Horst Gundlach (Universität Passau)
Gary Hatfield (University of Pennsylvania)
Ludmila Hyman (MPIWG, Berlin)
Malcolm Hyman (MPIWG, Berlin)
Perrine Marthelot (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Annette Mülberger (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Thomas Sturm (MPIWG, Berlin)
Fernando Vidal (MPIWG, Berlin)
Ekaterina Zavershneva (Moscow State University of Dental Medicine)
