Whatever happened to Karl Buhler?

Canadian Psychology, Jul 1994 by Brock, Adrian

Abstract

The work of Karl Buhler is not particularly well known in English - speaking countries. If Buhler is mentioned at all in texts on the history of psychology, it is in connection with his early work at the University of Wurzburg. This work represents only the start of Buhler's career in psychology. He subsequently produced important work on perception, Gestalt theory, developmental psychology, theoretical psychology and the psychology of language. Buhler's work has had a profound -- though largely unnoticed -- influence on later thinkers. It has also been the subject of a revival of interest in Europe in recent years. This article provides an overview of Buhler's life and work.

In a wide - ranging article on the historiography of psychology, Weimer (1974) has discussed what he calls "the suppression of psychological history" (p. 248). Weimer points out that 'history' is inevitably selective. Historians of psychology -- particularly those who are practising psychologists -- have some general idea of what psychology is and how it ought to be done. This will lead them to select out certain aspects of psychology's past and to ignore others. Weimer argues that this process is not always a conscious one. Few historians of psychology will deliberately suppress 'history'. They are simply not aware of its existence. Works which did not have a major impact on psychology will disappear from the 'collective memory' of psychologists.

Weimer illustrates these points with the example of Karl Buhler (1879 - 1963). One suspects that Buhler was chosen because the example is such a striking one. If Buhler is mentioned at all in texts on the history of psychology, it is in connection with his early work as Oswald Kulpe's assistant at the University of Wurzburg (e.g. Hothersall, 1990; Brennan, 1991; Hergenhahn, 1992; Leahey, 1992a; Schultz & Schultz, 1992). It was Buhler's work on 'imageless thought' which sparked off the famous controversy with Wilhelm Wundt over the methods of the 'Wurzburg School'. Boring (1950) wrote:

Buhler was severely criticized by Wundt, by Durr, who was one of his observers, and by von Aster. Titchener, of course, criticized the entire movement. Buhler, however, left the total picture of thought without important change, and we may thus close our account of the Wurzburg school and return once again to Kulpe. (pp. 406 - 407).

Boring mentions Buhler only in the context of Kulpe's students at Wurzburg and as the editor of Kulpe's posthumous "Vorlesungen" [Lectures] (Kulpe, 1920). With regard to the latter, Boring only comments that "Buhler may even have introduced Husserl to Kulpe" (p. 408). If this was Buhler's only work of any significance, then his minor role in the history of psychology would be perfectly justified. Let us take a closer look at this 'minor' figure in order to see why Buhler is such an interesting case.

Concept of Gestalt

Buhler's work as part of the 'Wurburg School' represents only the start of his career in psychology. He subsequently moved, together with Kulpe, to the University of Bonn in 1909 and to the University of Munich in 1913. It was during his stay in Bonn that Buhler became interested in Ehrenfels' concept of 'Gestalt' and applied this to the study of perception. The results of this work appeared under the title, Die Gestaltwahrnehmungen [The Gestalt Perceptions] (Buhler, 1913). This was one of the earliest attempts to experiment with Gestalt phenomena.(f.1) During his stay in Munich, Buhler turned his attention to developmental psychology. His major work on the subject -- Die geistige Entwicklung des Kindes [The Mental Development of the Child] -- appeared in 1918 (Buhler, 1918). This work was widely used in teacher - training institutes and had already reached its 6th edition by 1930 (Buhler, 1930a). An abridged version of the book -- Abri der geistigen Entwicklung des Kindes [Outline of the Mental Development of the Child] -- appeared in 1919 (Buhler, 1919). This had reached its 5th edition by 1929 (Buhler, 1929a). An English translation appeared in the following year (Buhler" 1930b). These works helped to establish Buhler's reputation as one of Europe's leading authorities on developmental psychology. Buhler is one of the most frequently - cited authors in Vygotsky's Thought and Language (1934/1986).

Buhler had become director of the Vienna Psychological Institute in 1922. With the help and support of his wife, Charlotte Buhler, he rapidly transformed it into one of the major centres of psychology in Europe. Like the Leipzig Institute many years earlier, it attracted students from all over the world. Charlotte Buhler (1965a) wrote that the Vienna Institute had students from 18 different countries at the 11th International Congress of Psychology in Paris.Some of the better known figures who studied there include: Hedda Bolgar, Egon Brunswik, Rudolf Ekstein, Herbert Feigl, Else Frenkel - Brunswik, Heinz Hartmann, Marie Jahoda, David Klein, Paul Lazarsfeld, Konrad Lorenz, Neal Miller, Karl Popper, Rene Spitz, Edward Tolman, Goodwin Watson and Albert Wellek. Buhler's reputation as a lecturer was legendary. Bolgar (1964) wrote: