Alexander Herzberg (medical doctor)

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Alexander Herzberg (born January 10, 1887 in Sobbowitz , Danzig district , † October 10, 1944 in London ) was a German physician , psychologist and philosopher .

life and work

Herzberg was part of the Berlin Society for Empirical Philosophy around Hans Reichenbach .

Since 1932 Herzberg published on his theory of performance therapy. The aim of performance therapy was to shorten the duration of psychotherapeutic treatment and increase its chances of success. His most important work in this context, Active Psychotherapy , was published in English in 1945. The psychologist Hans Jürgen Eysenck was a follower and heir to this work .

In 1926 , in the study on the psychology of philosophy and the philosophers , inspired by psychoanalysis , Herzberg tried to investigate how and for what reason a person becomes a philosopher. He carried out the investigation on the basis of 30 of the great philosophers of the history of philosophy and tried to show that and to what extent life was unsatisfactory for them, so that "thinking [...] has become a substitute for life". Their reluctance to live and unsuitable for life can be seen in various areas, such as in their job, dealing with money, love and marriage, friends, politics and social contacts. The reason for the unsuitability are inhibitions that severely limit the actions resulting from practical drives and instead force those affected to think philosophically instead of these actions.

In 1927, Herzberg and Georg Graf von Arco carried out an empirical experiment on the possibility of telepathy . The attempt aroused some media interest and 4,500 people took part. The result, however, was that the existence of telepathy could neither be confirmed nor refuted.

After 1933 he was dismissed as a private lecturer in medical psychology at the Medical Faculty of the University of Berlin .

Fonts (selection)

  • On the psychology of philosophy and the philosophers. Meiner, Leipzig 1926.
  • Active psychotherapy. London 1945.

literature

  • Wilhelm Schernus: Alexander Herzberg. Psychology, medicine and scientific philosophy. In: ders., Procedures for historical science research. Exemplary studies on philosophy, literary studies and narratology. Dissertation Hamburg 2005, pp. 105–122 ( uni-hamburg.de ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander Herzberg: On the psychology of philosophy and the philosophers. Meiner, Leipzig 1926, p. 123.
  2. ↑ Alexander Herzberg: On the psychology of philosophy and the philosophers. Meiner, Leipzig 1926, p. 151.
personal data
SURNAME Herzberg, Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physician, psychologist and philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH January 10, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Sobbowitz , Danzig district
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1944
Place of death London