Abstract : In 1927 Wilhelm Wundts daughter Eleonore Wundt compiled and published a comprehensive catalogue of
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Abstract : In 1927 Wilhelm Wundts daughter Eleonore Wundt compiled and published a comprehensive catalogue of her fathers works and works in translation. We use this catalogue as a starting point for an examination of the breadth of Wundts contributions the reaction to his works from the international psychological community and the overall trajectory of his academic career. Two areas of particular interest are Wundts view on the nature of psychology and its relationship to other disciplines and his discussion of the nature of Völkerpsychologie and its role in psychology. A close examination of original sources reveals that Wundt anchored psychology in the realm of mental sciences. He regarded "psychology to be in relation to natural sciences the supplementary in relation to the mental sciences the fundamental and in relation to philosophy the propaedeutic empirical science." The accomplishments and limitations of Wundtian Völkerpsychologie are viewed stereoscopically through the lenses of its explicated conceptions goals and methods on one hand and of the contemporary advancements in psychology on the other. Current implications of Wundts works and further developments of his ideas are related to Davidsons theory of epistemology and to present-day deliberations on the biocultural coconstruction of human development. We conclude by considering the continuing relevance of Wundts intellectual legacy.
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