Christian von Ehrenfels on the mind and its metaphysics

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter outlines some of the influences and background of Christian von Ehrenfels's conception, briefly discusses his notion of Gestalt, explains how it was taken up by others, and then considers how Ehrenfels himself further applied and developed it. On Ehrenfels's account, virtually any change, process, or movement that has some unity to it, involves a Gestalt quality. At the closing of his 1890 article, Ehrenfels claims that, ultimately, the concept of Gestalt "would yield the possibility of comprehending the whole of the known world under a single mathematical formula". The chapter explains how Ehrenfels's application of the notion of Gestalt in cosmology informs his metaphysics of the human mind. By 1916, the discussion of Gestalt qualities in psychology had moved on, with the two schools in Graz and Berlin having already produced significant results. In the debates between the two schools, Ehrenfels's own more philosophical and theoretical approach to the theory of Gestalt was however mostly disregarded.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPhilosophy of Mind in the Nineteenth Century
Subtitle of host publicationThe History of the Philosophy of Mind
EditorsSandra Lapointe
PublisherRoutledge
Pages214-231
Number of pages18
Volume5
ISBN (Electronic)9780429019425
ISBN (Print)9780429508134
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Publication series

NamePhilosophy of Mind in the Nineteenth Century

Keywords

  • Christian von Ehrenfels
  • Philosophy of Mind
  • History of Philosophy of Mind
  • School of Brentano

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Christian von Ehrenfels on the mind and its metaphysics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this