Consciousness psychology

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Consciousness psychology is the name for a psychology that focuses its interest on the analysis of consciousness as a complex mental process. Since the 17th century, with the re-founder of sensualism John Locke (1632–1704), sensory processes and consciousness processes have been the real subject of philosophy . The then newly developed philosophical science is not metaphysical psychology of consciousness in the old sense, but is essentially based on epistemology . In Germany, Christian Wolff (1679–1754) coined the expression “consciousness” in 1720. At first it was only used in the technical terminology of philosophy and only later became common usage as an antithesis to powerlessness . Wolff identified consciousness with the help of the ideas .

Methods

In the sense of an elemental psychology , consciousness psychology tries to deductively research the individual facts that can be regarded as simple foundations of such multi-layered mental processes. (a) As simple psychological elements, the general concept of imagination meant, for example, sensations or associations . In graduated degrees of brightness of consciousness ( vigilance ), the psychic was considered to be synonymous with consciousness.

Psychoanalysis and analytical psychology have turned against this assumption , as they both assumed special psychodynamic mechanisms for unconscious and preconscious mental processes.

The element-psychological analysis of consciousness was based primarily on self-observation and asset- psychological deduction. (a) Since subjective factors could not be ruled out, a lack of objectivity had to be accepted as a possible methodological weakness. The behaviorism has placed great value on objectively observable facts. (a)

history

Descartes

Consciousness psychology also has its founder in René Descartes (1596–1650), who in 1637 described consciousness as an immaterial “res cogitans” (thinking substance) and, in contrast, accepted the body as “res extensa” (extended substance). He called for an interaction between these substances , for which he held the pineal gland as the executive and only unpaired organ of the brain. With this non-confirming thesis, he expressed localization assumptions, which should, however, be understood as early indications of a topical nature. He regarded the soul as that which was primarily and specifically given to humans, in contrast to animals. With the "I think" he became an advocate of subjectivism . According to Descartes, the idea of ​​the God idea peculiar to thought distinguishes him as an idealistic thinker. (a) (b)

Schools and directions in Germany

In Germany, Christian Wolff did preparatory work for a psychology of consciousness with his rational psychology and the proposition of sufficient reason that he took up . (b) Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), however, doubted such a psychology (KrV B 399 ff.) and used the term anthropology in a pragmatic sense . Kant did not consider mathematical axioms applicable to psychology, since self-observation only allows uncertain inferences about the subject of psychology and thus a metaphysical justification according to the principles of the Critique of Pure Reason is not possible. (c) The Kant student Johann Christoph Hoffbauer (1766–1827) should be mentioned for his advocacy of "positive" phenomena through observation and for his efforts to keep psychology away from spiritualism and materialism . The speculative state of society in Germany at the time did not particularly reward him for this, see for example the negative reception of Hoffbauer by Johann Christian August Heinroth (1773 - 1843). Hoffbauer's views, however, were scientifically and physiologically recognized by Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776–1841) and Friedrich Eduard Beneke (1798–1854). (b)

The main representative of consciousness psychology and the founder of his own psychological methodology was Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) as a supporter of the predominantly experimental direction. After Theodor Elsenhans (1862–1918) the Würzburg School is also counted among it, along with some other independent experimental authors such as Georg Elias Müller (1850–1934) and Carl Stumpf (1848–1936). Franz Brentano (1838–1917), Alexius Meinong (1853–1920) and Hans Lipps (1889–1941) can be regarded as supporters of the predominantly introspective direction . (d) Behaviorism , psychoanalysis and analytical psychology have contributed to a further development of this concept. Even Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) as a representative of classical German psychiatry highlights these merits commends.

Wounds

Even if Wundt is to be regarded as the founder of modern psychology and in particular of experimental psychology , his role can only be understood if he is a link in the chain that was founded by Christian Wolff and continued by Immanuel Kant and Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776–1841) Tradition of dealing with the philosophy of consciousness . However, this tradition cannot be described without knowing its distinct psychological-historical contradictions. Wundt had many students from all over the world, but did not found a school himself. His works were not widely used. (e)

criticism

Even if Descartes had raised the question of the localizability of mental functions in the sense of a neuropsychology or at least that of a psychological topics, he could not adequately answer the specifically human formation of consciousness through interaction between soul and body in the case of sensory stimuli . Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) pointed out this gap with his doctrine of petites perceptions . In this way, unconscious perceptions were also recognized through the assumption of sensory thresholds and later taken up by Herbart. - The criticism of consciousness psychology by the aforementioned analytical directions in psychology was based on rather unconscious research approaches that can be understood as an expression of realism . (b) The representatives of → elemental psychology and gestalt and holistic psychology faced each other, as there was no methodical procedure for checking the different viewpoints with regard to analytical (elemental psychology) and synthetic (holistic psychology). (c)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Lexicon of Psychology . Spectrum of Science, Lemma “Consciousness Psychology” online
  2. ^ Hannah Arendt : Vita activa or From active life . R. Piper, Munich 3 1983, ISBN 3-492-00517-9 ; P. 286 to chap. 41 “The eversion of theory and practice”.
  3. ^ Rudolf Degkwitz et al. (Ed.): Mentally ill . Introduction to Psychiatry for Clinical Study. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-541-09911-9 ; Column indicated below with ~; P. 17 ~ 1 to Stw. "Consciousness Psychology".
  4. ↑ " consciously ". In: Drosdowski, Günther: Etymologie . Dictionary of origin of the German language; The history of German words and foreign words from their origins to the present. 2nd Edition. Dudenverlag, Volume 7, Mannheim 1997, ISBN 3-411-20907-0 ; P. 79 f.
  5. ↑ Christian Wolff : Reasonable thoughts of God, the world and the soul of man, also of all things in general, communicated to lovers of truth. [1720], 7th edition, Frankfurt and Leipzig 1738, §§ 1, 728 f., 732-35, 752, 924.
  6. ↑ a b c d e Jochen Fahrenberg : Theoretical Psychology. A system of controversies . Online edition , Print: Pabst Science Publ., Lengerich 2015, ISBN 978-3-95853-077-5 : (a) p. 68 on stw. “Deduction and rational psychology”; (b) p. 61 on Stw. "Christian Wolff"; (c) p. 12, 144–174 on “Immanuel Kant”; (d) p. 131 to Stw. “Consciousness Psychology Main Representative”; (e) p. 136, 735 on the res. “Wilhelm Wundt”.




  7. ↑ a b Sigmund Freud : The I and the It . In: Collected Works, Volume XIII, “Beyond the Pleasure Principle - Mass Psychology and Analysis of the Ego - The I and the It” (1920–1924), Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt / M 1999, ISBN 3-596-50300-0 ; P. 239 ff. On the “Limits of Consciousness Psychology”.
  8. ↑ a b Carl Gustav Jung : About the energetics of the soul . In: Collected Works, Volume 8, “The Dynamics of the Unconscious”, Walter-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1995, paperback, special edition, ISBN 3-530-40083-1 ; P. 26 f., § 29 on the section “Consciousness Psychology”.
  9. ^ A b Klaus Dörner : Citizens and Irre . On the social history and sociology of science in psychiatry. (1969) Fischer Taschenbuch, Bücher des Wissens, Frankfurt / M 1975, ISBN 3-436-02101-6 : (a) p. 209, 229 on taxation “property psychology” (b) p. 229 f., 266 f. , 277 to resident "Johann Christoph Hoffbauer".

  10. ↑ a b c Peter R. Hofstätter (Ed.): Psychology . The Fischer Lexicon, Fischer-Taschenbuch, Frankfurt a. M. 1972, ISBN 3-436-01159-2 : (a) p. 77 ff. On Lemma “Observation” and Stw. “Gains and Problems of Self-Observation”; (b) p. 206 f. on Lemma “body-soul problem” and “res cogitans and res extensa as substances”; (c) p. 87 on lemma “consciousness” stw. “sensory threshold”; P. 156 f. on lemma "Gestalt and Integral Psychology" Stw. "Compromise Standpoint" and p. 335 on Lemma "Typology" Stw. " Vittorio Benussi ".


  11. ↑ René Descartes : Discours de la Méthode pour bien conduire sa Raison et chercher la Vérité dans les Sciences . [1637] Classiques Larousse, Paris 10/1934.
  12. ^ A b Heinrich Schmidt : Philosophical Dictionary (= Kröner's pocket edition. 13). 21st edition, revised by Georgi Schischkoff . Alfred Kröner, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-520-01321-5 : (a) p. 675 on Lemma “Subjectivism”; (b) p. 572 on Lemma “Realism”.

  13. ↑ Johann Christoph Hoffbauer : Investigations on the diseases of the soul . 1802-1807 (3 volumes); Vol. III, p. IV.
  14. ^ Theodor Elsenhans : Textbook of Psychology . [1912] pp. 25-35.
  15. ↑ Karl Jaspers : General Psychopathology . 9th edition, Springer, Berlin 1973, ISBN 3-540-03340-8 ; P. 9 f. to chap. "The consciousness and the unconscious".