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

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 interpretation of how indi ...

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 ...

. 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 and educated at the universities of Leipzig and Jena. 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, Schelling and

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...

, 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 The Anthropological Society of London (ASL) was a short-lived organisation of the 1860s whose founders aimed to furnish scientific evidence for white supremacy which they construed in terms of polygenism. It was founded in 1863 by Richard Franc ...

'', 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)