Tag Archives: Journals

Why was Wundt’s journal titled *Philosophical* Studies?

Wilhelm Wundt is best known as the founder of first laboratory dedicated specifically to experimental psychology. But he titled the journal that published his famous laboratory’s research Philosophische Studien (Philosophical Studies). Why was that? If his aim was to distinguish between the old philosophical psychology and the new experimental psychology, why confuse the matter by associating himself so closely with philosophy?

First, Wundt was not opposed to philosophical psychology. He just thought that philosophy could be enhanced by adding experimental methods to its toolbox. His Leipzig professorship was, after all, in philosophy, and he wrote a number of treatises on philosophical problems far removed from his experimental work. But still, why didn’t he title his journal something like Psychologische Studien (Psychological Studies), since it reported the psychological research of his students and himself?

The answer is that there was already a journal in Germany entitled Psychische Studien (Psychical Studies) that published work on spiritualism and paranormal phenomena. Wundt regarded this as unscholarly nonsense, and he did not want his own work to be confused with it in the public mind, so he went with the “Queen of the Sciences” instead: philosophy.

Andreas Sommer has just retweeted an excellent little 2013 article on that “other” journal at his blog, “Forbidden Histories.” You can read it here.

New HOP Journal: European Yearbook of the History of Psychology

A new peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the history of psychology is coming our way in 2014! The journal will be edited by Mauro Antonelli, professor of psychology at the Università degli Studi di Milano – Bicocca in Italy.

The announcement making its rounds on listservs describes the scope of the new journal:

The European Yearbook of the History of Psychology will be a peer-reviewed international journal devoted to the history of psychology, and especially to the interconnections between historiographic survey and problems of epistemology. The Journal will welcome contributions that offer precise reconstructions of specific moments, topics, and people in the history of psychology via the recovery and critical analysis of archival as well as published sources. Critical editions of relevant primary texts or archival sources will be welcome. Research papers should be preferably in English, while the critical edition of texts may also be in French, German, and Italian. The national traditions in Europe will be respected not only in their own right and in their interrelations, but also in their further connection to and confrontation with non-European research traditions. With this focus, the Journal aims at uncovering paths to aid the understanding of the common and of the specific roots of European scientific thought, and its building connections with non-European traditions.

With an eye on the interdisciplinary nature of cultural studies, the Journal will pay special attention to those common areas between psychological research and its adjacent disciplines, in particular the human and the life sciences (philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychiatry, physiology, neurology, biology, zoology, etc.).

Aimed primarily at historians and philosophers of psychology, epistemologists, historians of philosophy, and historians of human sciences, the Journal will also be open to contributions from all areas of psychology that address a phenomenon or topic of interest in psychology from a historical perspective and/or with an epistemological approach.

Besides original essays, the Journal will encompass the following sections: Unpublished and archival material; Discussions (a space where authors can confront one another and discuss specific topics); Interviews; Book reviews and reading recommendations.

H/T to Cathy Faye (@CLFaye)

CFP: International Historiography of Psychology

The following announcement was recently circulated by Wade Pickren, editor of the journal History of Psychology.

History of Psychology Call for Papers on the International Historiography of Psychology

History of Psychology invites manuscripts for a special issue on the international historiography of psychology. The goal of the special issue is to showcase high-quality research on the history of psychology that is being conducted in countries around the world. In particular, we are seeking studies from countries in Central and South America, Africa, South Asia, East Asia, Australia, and Europe, especially Spain, Italy, as well as Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. Continue reading CFP: International Historiography of Psychology