History and Systems of Psychology

The German philosophical basis of psychology took greater inspiration from Spinoza than from Descartes. The mind–body dualism of the latter gave rise to the distinction between physiological and psychological levels of study, which provided a conceptual framework contrasting the two realms of investigation. The French sensationalists blurred the distinction through reductionism; the British retained the distinction but allowed some mentalistic functions, such as associations, with a physiological basis. Spinoza conceived of physiological and psychological processes as descriptions of the same entity, which resulted in an emphasis on continuity in the activity of human functioning. Thus, rather than viewing physiology and psychology as contrasting areas of investigation, he viewed them as integrative aspects of human activity. The German model of psychology was not confounded by the contrast between sensations and ideas, as both were seen as aspects of the same active process. Before examining the specifics of the German model, we briefly consider the diverse intellectual climate of Germany.

German history has been characterized by political fragmentation. Surviving the Middle Ages and the Renaissance as a loose confederation of small kingdoms, principalities, and bishoprics, Germany entered the modern era under the nominal leadership of the Holy Roman Emperor, one of the last vestiges of the feudal political structure. Moreover, Germany was sharply divided by the Reformation and by the attempt of the Roman Catholic Church to regain ground lost during the Counter-Reformation. The disastrous Thirty Years War (1618–1648) was fought over the religious allegiance of the Protestant north and Catholic south of Germany.

Amid this political and religious confusion, the German state of Prussia developed in the northeastern portion of Germany. Modern Prussia evolved through the combination of the estates of the Teutonic Knights and the Brandenburg lands. In 1411, Frederick of Hohenzollern became ruler of Brandenburg, with headquarters in Berlin. His successors continued a steady policy of small acquisitions, so that by 1619 the Hohenzollerns ruled over Brandenburg as well as East Prussia. In the nineteenth century, the family presided over the unification of all German lands under their chancellor, Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898), and the German Empire (Map 10.1) lasted until the last Hohenzollern emperor abdicated in 1918.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Prussia took the lead in German cultural activities, which reached a zenith under the versatile Frederick the Great (r. 1740–1786).