Theodor Waitz (17 March 182121 May 1864) was a German psychologist and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and v ...

. His research in psychology brought him into touch with anthropology, and he will be best remembered by his monumental work in six volumes, ''Die Anthropologie der Naturvölker'' ("The anthropology of peoples that live close to nature").

Biography

Waitz was born at

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

and educated at the universities of Leipzig and

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

. He made philosophy, philology and mathematics his chief studies, and in 1848 he was appointed associate professor of philosophy at the University of Marburg (full professor, 1862). He was a severe critic of the philosophy of

Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kan ...

, Schelling and Hegel, and considered psychology to be the basis of all philosophy. He died in Marburg.

Theorizing boredom

Theodor Waitz contributed significantly as an affective psychologist, particularly in the field of conceptualizing boredom.According to Waitz, boredom was about flow of thoughts. As one thought begets another, expectations on where this thought is moving towards are generated. Boredom arises when those expectations are not met. Boredom is basically associated with a break in the expected flow of thoughts because of a mismatch between expected and actual mental activity.

Works

The first four volumes of his ''Anthropologie der Naturvölker'' appeared at Leipzig, 1859–64, the last two were issued posthumously, edited by Georg Gerland. Waitz also published: * ''Grundlegung der Psychologie'' (1846). * ''Lehrbuch der Psychologie als Naturwissenschaft'' (1849). * ''Allgemeine Pedagogik'' (1852). * ''Die Indianer Nordamerikas'' (1864). * ''Aristotelis Organon graece''; a critical edition of the ''Organon'' of Aristotle (1844).

References

* * Burton, R.F. (1864), "Notes on Waitz's ''Anthropology''", '' Anthropological Review'', Vol. II, pp. 233–50. Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waitz, Theodor 1821 births 1864 deaths German psychologists German anthropologists University of Marburg faculty People from Gotha (town)