Fernanda Alfieri (Trento): Catholicism and the Rise of Psychology as Scientific Discipline
02.05.2018 18:00 Uhr – 20:00 Uhr
wann: Mittwoch, 2. Mai 2018, 18-20 Uhr
wo: Historicum, Schellingstr. 12, Raum K202
Vortrag im Rahmen des Oberseminars "Perspektiven der Wissenschaftsgeschichte" in Kooperation mit dem IGK - Religiöse Kulturen im Europa des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts
When the German Jesuit Joseph Fröbes first read a text by Wilhelm Wundt, he was immediately persuaded that here “there was a new realm”, which, however, “could not be conquered” without specific training. He then decided to move to Leipzig and work with the founding father of psychology as scientific discipline. This happened in the early 1900es. What did this mean for a religious order like the Society of Jesus, to which for centuries “psychology” meant the “science of the soul as the life principle”, whose epistemic grounds were rooted in a scholastic tradition approved by the Catholic Church as unique doctrinal reference point? Starting from the Fröbes case, the talk will deal with this disciplinary and epistemic transition, framing it within a long-term perspective.