Origins and basic principles of Wundt's <i>Völkerpsychologie</i>

Abstract

The origins of Wundt's conceptions can be traced to some early notions of J. G. Herder and, more immediately, to the project of a Völkerpsychologie developed by Lazarus and Steinthal around 1860. Wundt criticized the Herbartian basis of the latter and proceeded to work out an alternative conception of psychology in its social aspects. The basis of this conception was provided by his analysis of human action and the theory of gestural communication to which this led. Cultural products were seen as presupposing a collective subject and as acting back on the psychology of the individual. Although Wundt's conceptions had serious limitations some aspects of his thought about the relationship of individual and culture provide perspectives that are of continuing interest.