science

Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint

Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint rather than just read about it. In short: Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint (German: Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkte; 1874; second edition 1924) is an 1874 book by the Austrian philosopher Franz Brentano, in which the author argues that the goal of psychology should be to establish exact laws. Brentano's best known book, it established his reputation as a philosopher, helped to establish psychology as a scientific discipline, and influenced Hu…

Key takeaways

Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint (German: Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkte; 1874; second edition 1924) is an 1874 book by the Austrian philosopher Franz Brentano, in which the author argues that the goal of psychology should be to establish exact laws. Brentano's best known book, it established his reputation as a philosopher, helped to establish psychology as a scientific discipline, and influenced Husserlian phenomenology, analytic philosophy, gestalt psychology, and the philosopher Alexius Meinong's theory of objects. It has been called Brentano's best known work and has been compared to the physician Wilhelm Wundt's Grundzüge der physiologischen Psychologie and the Project for a Scientific Psychology of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis.

Summary

Discussing the philosopher Eduard von Hartmann's Philosophy of the Unconscious (1869), Brentano comments that Hartmann "uses the term 'consciousness' to refer to something different from what we do. He defines consciousness as 'the emancipation of the idea from the will...and the opposition of the will to this emancipation,' and as 'the bewilderment of the will over the existence of the idea, which existence the will does not want but which, nevertheless, is sensibly present.' Brentano suggests that Hartmann's definition of consciousness perhaps refers to "something purely imaginary", and certainly does not agree with Brentano's definition.

Background and publication history Brentano was at work on Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint in 1873, while travelling in Europe after leaving the Roman Catholic Church and resigning from his position at the University of Würzburg. He completed the first two books of the work in March 1874. Brentano originally intended to produce a large work consisting of six books, the first five of which would cover psychology as a science, mental phenomena in general, and their three basic classes, while the sixth would deal with the mind-body problem, the soul, and immortality. However, Brentano was ill with smallpox after publishing the first two books. The work remained incomplete. In 1911, Brentano published book two of Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint under the new title Von der Klassifikation der psychischen Phänomene, with the addition of remarks explaining his later views, where they differed from those he held in 1874. Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint was first published as Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkte, but subsequent editions were published as Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkt, which is the more commonly cited name. The first edition was designated Volume 1, but this was also abandoned in later editions. In 1924, after Brentano's death, the book was published in a new edition, which included explanatory notes by the philosopher Oskar Kraus.

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Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint

In research: Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1874 non-fiction books, Books about the unconscious mind, Books by Franz Brentano, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint in simple terms?

Why does Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint.