Wilhem Maximilian Wundt was one of the most prominent psychologists and philosophers history has ever seen. Contrary to expectations from his earliest childhood, the German therapist established concepts that moved everything known about psychology. Find out more about Wilhelm Wundt through his life, work, and concepts.

Life of Wilhelm Wundt

Wilhelm Wundt shared with his family, besides his German origin, the intellectual power However, because of minor failures in his youth, his relatives began to question whether he would be able to keep his family's heritage alive. Nevertheless, Wundt made a name for himself and over time came to be recognized among the best universities.

Wundt was not given to school, because he dreamed of being a writer, so his inattention angered teachers. His classmates were not very helpful either, but they soon recognized the student's intellectual value. So, even though the school remained the same, Wundt decided to pursue his studies to work in science and be independent .

Wherever he went, he added knowledge and turned it into his work material. His training at the Universities of Heidelberg and Tubingen were only the beginning of his trajectory, so he went from being a simple assistant to professor and started his research. It is thanks to him that Germany has the country's first psychology laboratory, which is located at Leipzig University .

German Pioneerism

Given his efforts, I think it is worth leaving a separate topic to this. Wilhelm Wundt is regarded as the father of modern psychology to which we have access today. In 1879 he established Germany's first psychology laboratory within the University of Leipzig. Thus, with this, Wundt managed to separate psychology from philosophy, making them independent sciences .

From then on, German psychologists had more freedom to work on some more restricted concepts. They soon developed psychological investigations in a systematic way, looking at some aspects in their entirety Thus, with the support of several dedicated authors, they have fostered and built several more elaborate theories and schools to teach them.

Wundt's intention with this creation was to give a more independent German identity in the area To do this, he indicated and advocated that German psychologists should investigate the elementary processes of human consciousness. Thus, with it, also came their combinations, interactions, and relations. Thanks to this, his method became known as "Structuralism.

Work

Wilhelm Wundt actively contributes to many different areas, prominently Physiology, such as tactile sensitivity in hysterical patients. In addition, he published studies on psychophysics and perception organized in a book soon after he graduated This also includes texts on the comparison between man and animal in terms of their psychological systems.

Continuing, among several volumes, he indicates the fundamentals of physiological psychology. The material has been reproduced and re-released several times, given the impact it has had. Interestingly, the 1896 edition is the shortest of all, but retains his three-dimensional theory of emotions Thus, he placed psychology in the field of the natural sciences.

Years earlier, he had founded the world's first experimental psychology laboratory, of the Wundt-Laboratorium taking what he had done in Germany to the world Two years later, in 1881, he helps found the first journal of psychology, Philosophische Studien Until 1920, the year of his death, he published Volkerpsychologie a popular and cultural magazine about Psychology.

Concepts

Wilhelm Wundt built relevant concepts that evoked reflection on the body and mind. This helped to formulate concise concepts about human nature itself. As a consequence, we had access to some tools that serve as support for several other theories in the genre. Here are some concepts:

The concept of mind

Wilhelm was unable to conceive that the structures that make up consciousness were static entities. For him, they showed themselves as active and organizational units of their own content. In this, he declared that the will exerted power in the organization of mental contents when it came to more complicated thought processes .

Because of this, he told psychologists to preferentially study immediate experience, because it would unravel and describe the primary experiences we have involving the simplest elements of consciousness. Wundt leaned toward introspection, capturing the intensity, size, and duration of physical stimuli .

Social Psychology

Wundt argued that the experimental method was the fit for investigating simple processes of the mind. This filters down through objects that concern our social life, such as language, art, ethics, and cultural habits.

Unfortunately for Wilhelm, the social aspect of his work lost focus. However, in order to remedy this, he worked on Volkerpsychologie / Folk Psychology which contains analyses of psycholinguistics, culture, history, etc. Other experts argue that it has become relevant to better understand the separation of social and experimental psychology .

Features

Wilhelm Wundt carried some characteristics that he let slip into his work. Though it may sound silly, this served to humanize him and bring him closer to other writers. What was most evident was:

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Annoyed

Wundt was never satisfied with some paradigms he encountered along the way. Until he could complete or change them, he did not rest in his work. Thanks to this eagerness to grow and aggregate, he was able to elaborate complex theories and unravel them in a comprehensible way .

Avesso

Wundt escaped a bit from the conformism of the other psychologists of the time. He was demonstrably opposed to some ideas that his colleagues raised. Not that he was a troublemaker, but saw in a different light a project presented to him .

Wilhelm Wundt contributed massively to the construction of the human psyche and behavior It is thanks to him that we build simplistic tools to work in the complicated ways of our minds. Carrying the vigor of knowledge and dedication in his writings, he continues to inspire many scholars.

Although the topics above summarize much of his work and his life, it is worthwhile to check out his complete journey. Each reader may be able to draw his or her own natural interpretation from the psychologist's own words. If you don't know where to start, try the list below:

• Principles of Physiological Psychology (1893);
• An Introduction To Psychology (1912);
• Elements of Folk Psychology (1863);
• Lectures on human and animal psychology (1863);
• Outhines of psychology (1897);
• The language of gestures;
• Principles of psychology;
• Ethics: the facts of moral living;
• The principles of morality and the Departments of the moral live;
• Ethics: on investigation of the facts and lows of the moral live.

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