Carl Stumpf
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Carl Stumpf (; 21 April 1848 – 25 December 1936) was a German philosopher,
psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...
and
musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...
. He is noted for founding the Berlin School of experimental psychology. He studied with
Franz Brentano Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Josef Brentano (; ; 16 January 1838 – 17 March 1917) was a German philosopher and psychologist. His 1874 '' Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint'', considered his magnum opus, is credited with having reintrod ...
at the
University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...
before receiving his doctorate at the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...
in 1868. He also tutored the
modernist literature Modernist literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by a self-conscious separation from traditional ways of writing in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented with literary form a ...
writer
Robert Musil Robert Musil (; 6 November 1880 – 15 April 1942) was an Austrian philosophical writer. His unfinished novel, ''The Man Without Qualities'' (), is generally considered to be one of the most important and influential modernist novels. Family M ...
at the
University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
, and worked with Hermann Lotze, who is famous for his work in
perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...
, at Göttingen. Stumpf is known for his work on the ''psychology of tones''. He had an important influence on his students
Wolfgang Köhler Wolfgang Köhler (; 21 January 1887 â€“ 11 June 1967) was a German psychologist and phenomenologist who, like Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka, contributed to the creation of Gestalt psychology. During the Nazi regime in Germany, he pro ...
and
Kurt Koffka Kurt Koffka (; March 12, 1886 – November 22, 1941) was a German psychologist and professor. He was born and educated in Berlin, Germany; he died in Northampton, Massachusetts, from coronary thrombosis. He was influenced by his maternal unc ...
who were instrumental in the founding of ''Gestalt'' psychology as well as
Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin ( ; ; 9 September 1890 – 12 February 1947) was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social psychology, social, industrial and organizational psychology, organizational, and applied psychology in the ...
, who was also a part of the Gestalt group and was key in the establishment of experimental social psychology in America. Stumpf is considered one of the pioneers of
comparative musicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...
and
ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...
, as documented in his study of the origins of human musical cognition ''The Origins of Music'' (1911). He held positions in the philosophy departments at the Universities of Göttingen, Würzburg, Prague, Munich and Halle, before obtaining a professorship at the
University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy


Early life

Carl Stumpf was born in Wiesentheid,
Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...
, in the
Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...
, to a prominent family. His father was the country court physician, and his immediate family included scientists and academicians, like his grandfather, who studied eighteenth-century French literature and the philosophers
Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 â€“ 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...
and Schelling. Stumpf showed precocious musical talent as a child, learning the violin by the age of 7. By age 10, he had learned five other instruments and wrote his first musical composition.''History of Psychology'', Fourth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 2004.


Education

Stumpf was sickly as a child so his early education was conducted at home with his grandfather as his tutor. Stumpf attended the local ''Gymnasium'', where he developed a passion for philosophy, especially the works of
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
, before enrolling at the
University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...
at the age of 17.Autobiography of Carl Stumpf
He spent one semester studying
aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...
and one studying law. Then, in his third semester, he met
Franz Brentano Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Josef Brentano (; ; 16 January 1838 – 17 March 1917) was a German philosopher and psychologist. His 1874 '' Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint'', considered his magnum opus, is credited with having reintrod ...
, who taught Stumpf to think logically and
empirically In philosophy, empiricism is an Epistemology, epistemological view which holds that true knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from Sense, sensory experience and empirical evidence. It is one of several competing views within ...
. Brentano's lectures were also attended by Anton Marty, Carl van Endert, Ernst Commer, Ludwig Schütz, and Hermann Schell. Brentano also encouraged Stumpf to take courses on the
natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...
because he considered both the substance and methods of science important to philosophy. After two semesters of studying with Brentano and with encouragement from his mentor, he transferred to the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...
to study under Hermann Lotze, a German perceptual theorist. There he was awarded a doctorate in 1868. In 1869, he entered a seminary, intending to be a Catholic priest. However, he disagreed with the dogma of the
papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a Dogma in the Catholic Church, dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Saint Peter, Peter, the Pope when he speaks is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "in ...
so he returned to the University of Göttingen for his doctorate. He was awarded ''
venia legendi Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellen ...
'' for philosophy in 1870 after completing his thesis on mathematical axioms, which he wrote in Latin.


Academic career

Soon after, Stumpf was granted a position as an instructor at the University of Göttingen in the Department of Philosophy. There Stumpf met Ernst Weber and
Gustav Fechner Gustav Theodor Fechner (; ; 19 April 1801 – 18 November 1887) was a German physicist, philosopher, and experimental psychologist. A pioneer in experimental psychology and founder of psychophysics (techniques for measuring the mind), he inspi ...
, and served as an observer in their psychological experiments. Their careful approach to a problem of aesthetics, specifically the visual appeal of rectangles of different proportions, appealed to Stumpf and reinforced the notion learned from Brentano that psychological acts or functions can be studied empirically. In 1873, Stumpf returned to the University of Würzburg as a professor in the Department of Philosophy. Although he was forced to teach all of the philosophy and psychology courses due to Brentano's forced departure from the university, Stumpf completed his first major psychological work, an examination of visual perception, particularly depth perception. He proposed a nativist explanation for depth perception, and his book has been cited as an outstanding early contribution to the debate between the ''nativist'' and ''empiricist'' views of perception. He disputed the Kantian notion of space as an "a priori form of intuition" in his book, ''On the Psychological Origin of the Presentation of Space'' (1873). He argued that the status of space is ''Teilvorstellung'' or a "partial presentation", one that must be experienced as part of a broader presentation. In 1894, Stumpf was appointed to the chair of philosophy at the
University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
. At Berlin, he also held an adjunct appointment as director of the Institute of Experimental Psychology at Berlin. The Institute originally occupied three dark rooms, but by 1920, had moved to twenty-five rooms in the former Imperial Palace. In 1896, Stumpf presided over the Third International Congress of Psychology, and delivered the inaugural address on the relation between mind and body; he advocated an interactionalist position that opposed the popular notion of psychophysical parallelism. Finally, from 1907 to 1908, Stump served as the rector of the
University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
.


Phenomenology

Stumpf began his work on the sensation and perception of tones, called ''Tonpsychologie'' (''Tone Psychology''), in 1875. Originally meant to be a four volume set, the first two volumes were published in 1883 and 1890, but the majority of the third volume was published as ''Konsonanz und Dissonanz''. Considered his greatest contribution to psychology, the study employs a combination of theoretical analysis and
empirical Empirical evidence is evidence obtained through sense experience or experimental procedure. It is of central importance to the sciences and plays a role in various other fields, like epistemology and law. There is no general agreement on how t ...
observations. He discusses intervals and series of tones, along with single tones. He distinguished between phenomena and mental functions, suggesting that phenomena such as tones, colors, and images are either sensory or imaginary. Stumpf termed the study of such phenomena as ''
phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839â ...
''. He did a wide range of studies of the phenomenological characteristics of the sounds of different instruments, the determinants of melody, tonal fusion, and the
consonance and dissonance In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness, unple ...
of tones. This research was made possible by the excellent collection of acoustic devices at the Institute of Physics. Stumpf's work on phenomenology influenced
Edmund Husserl Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology. In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...
, who is considered the father of the school of phenomenology.


Sensational phenomena

In 1903 and 1904, Stumpf was involved in two well-publicized debunking episodes related to sensational phenomena. First, an engineer from Prague claimed to have invented a machine that could change photographs of sound waves into sound. Stumpf, after attending a demonstration, wrote an article challenging its legitimacy, causing it to never be heard about again. However, the case of
Clever Hans Clever Hans (; ) was a horse that appeared to perform arithmetic and other intellectual tasks during exhibitions in Germany in the early 20th century. In 1907, psychologist Oskar Pfungst demonstrated that the horse was not actually performing th ...
, an apparently brilliant horse owned by Wilhelm von Osten, was even more sensational.


Later years

The majority of Stumpf's later work did not include sensational or interesting research, like that of Clever Hans. With the outbreak of World War I, many students left the Institute of Experimental Psychology to fight in the war. Furthermore, the war between Germany and the allied nations disrupted many professional relationships he had with other psychologists. Stumpf retired from the
University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
in 1921 and was succeeded as director of the psychological institute by his former student,
Wolfgang Köhler Wolfgang Köhler (; 21 January 1887 â€“ 11 June 1967) was a German psychologist and phenomenologist who, like Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka, contributed to the creation of Gestalt psychology. During the Nazi regime in Germany, he pro ...
.


Works in translation

* Stumpf, C.: ''The Origins of Music'', ed. and trans. David Trippett. Oxford University Press, 2012. * Stumpf, C.: ''Tone Psychology: Volume I'', ed. and trans. Robin D. Rollinger. Routledge, 2019.


Notes


References

* Sprung, H., 2006: ''Carl Stumpf – Eine Biografie. Von der Philosophie zur Experimentellen Psychologie''. Munich/Vienna: Profil. * Bonacchi, S. and Boudewijnse, G.-H. (eds.), 2011: ''Carl Stumpf – From Philosophical Reflection to Interdisciplinary Scientific Investigation''. Wien: Krammer. * Benjamin, Ludy T., 2007. ''A brief history of modern psychology''. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. * Padilla Gálvez, J., 2021: ''State of Affairs. Reconstructing the Controversy over Sachverhalt'', Munich: Philosophia Verlag.


External links


Short biography, bibliography, and links on digitized sources
in the Virtual Laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
Autobiography
from ''History of Psychology in Autobiography'' Vol. 1 (1930), pp. 389–441, at
York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
"Classics in the History of Psychology" {{DEFAULTSORT:Stumpf, Carl 1848 births 1936 deaths People from Kitzingen (district) People from the Kingdom of Bavaria German ethnomusicologists 20th-century German philosophers Music psychologists 19th-century psychologists 20th-century German psychologists University of Göttingen alumni University of Würzburg alumni Academic staff of the University of Würzburg Academic staff of Charles University Academic staff of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) German music theorists Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Phenomenologists 19th-century German philosophers