Becoming a Science

Abstract

The scientific approach of “Völkerpsychologie” (roughly translated in English as “ethnic psychology”) as founded by Lazarus and Steinthal, and later by Wilhelm Wundt, was criticized early on by conservative protagonists in Germany, such as Houston Stewart Chamberlain and others. This article looks into how their criticism influenced and changed Völkerpsychologie in its two facets: Völkerpsychologie as a theoretical approach and as an “applied approach.” Furthermore, the consequences of this double concept and the change to Völkerpsychologie regarding its role and the meaning for political objectives are discussed. In contrast to Wundt’s theoretical Völkerpsychologie, which is based on the thesis that peoples’ development originally started with similar behaviors, the so-called applied or “differentielle Völkerpsychologie” implied that people are different, that they are devaluated, selected, and eventually separated as races from one another. Changing psychology by adding a more biological dimension and approach led to differentielle Völkerpsychologie becoming an instrument for political goals. The concluding section of this article focuses on the question of to what extent this change of Völkerpsychologie might have prepared the foundation for totalitarian structures.

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