The origin of philosophical psychology: from Vives to Brentano

Federico Boccaccini

In my presentation I am going to talk about the origin of philosophical psychology in the modern age from Juan Luis Vives (1493-1540) to Franz Brentano (1838-1917). My aim is to show how during three centuries psychology arises from humanistic studies to an experimental science in Wundt. This new discipline transforms itself from a study of inner experience, strictly linked to philosophy, to full science. My claim is there are two traditions in modern philosophy which represent two different approaches to the study of human mind: one originated from Vives' book De anima et vita (1538) and another one from Wolff's psychology. Both flow into Brentano's Psychology from an empirical standpoint. These two modern viewpoints set up phenomenology.