The origins and development of Leopold Blaustein’s descriptive psychology: An essay in the heritage of the Lvov-Warsaw School.

Abstract

This article critically analyzes the concept of descriptive psychology, which was used by Blaustein as part of his struggles with the Brentanian heritage which shaped the Lvov-Warsaw School. It is argued that because of his studies under the Gestaltists and Husserl, Blaustein was able to redefine the basics of Brentano's and Twardowski's projects of empirical and descriptive psychology. To show the divergent motives present in Blaustein's psychology, the article presents a biography of Blaustein in the context of psychology in the Poland and Europe of his times. Next, it analyzes references to Brentano and to Twardowski. It is argued that because of Twardowski and his reappraisal of Külpe's experimental psychology, Blaustein accepted experiments as a necessary element of scientifically justified psychology. This thesis is also discussed in regard to the Gestaltists' influences on Blaustein. Next, the article explores Blaustein's idea of reforming psychology in the spirit of the humanistic psychology of Dilthey and Spranger. Blaustein's idea that phenomenology should be understood as descriptive psychology is discussed. Finally, his use of psychology to study media is discussed. Against this background, Blaustein's descriptive psychology is presented as an eclectic methodological device which was used by him to explore mental phenomena.