Vittorio Benussi in the History of Psychology

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Mauro Antonelli

   Pages 1-2

3. The Austrian Path Toward Gestalt Psychology: From Brentano to Benussi, via Meinong

   • Mauro Antonelli

   Pages 3-100

4. Vittorio Benussi: A Difficult Life, a Tragic Fate

   • Mauro Antonelli

   Pages 101-143

5. The Graz Period

   • Mauro Antonelli

   Pages 145-260

6. The Padua Period

   • Mauro Antonelli

   Pages 261-317

7. Conclusion

   • Mauro Antonelli

   Pages 319-331

8. Back Matter

   Pages 333-377

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This book covers the basic guidelines of Vittorio Benussi’s research during the period at Graz and at Padua. It does so in the light of a thorough study of his Nachlass. The book re-evaluates Benussi’s work as a historical piece, and shows how his work is still relevant today, especially in the areas of cognitive psychology and cognitive science. The volume deals with this original and ingenious - though largely ignored - scholar and discusses his work as a leading experimental psychologist. Benussi’s contributions as discussed in this book were particularly relevant in the fields of visual and tactile perception, time perception, forensic psychology, hypnosis and suggestion, unconscious, and emotions. His classical papers are impressive in their originality, energy, range of approaches, experimental skill, the wealth of findings, and the quality of theoretical discussions. This book demonstrates that Benussi was ahead of his time and that his themes, experiments and research programmes are highly relevant to contemporary cognitive psychology.

• Alexius Meinong
• Benussi and Husserl
• Benussi and the Graz School
• Franz Brentano
• Koffka-Benussi controversy
• inadequate perception of form

• Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Milano - Bicocca, Milano, Italy

  Mauro Antonelli

Mauro Antonelli is professor of History and Epistemology of Psychology at the University of Milano - Bicocca, Italy, and Privatdozent of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy and at the Alexius Meinong Institute of the Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, Austria. His main research interests include the history of German and Austrian philosophy and psychology in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Brentano and the Brentano School, phenomenological psychology, the philosophy and psychology of time.

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