Franz Brentano´s Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint

In this research Franz Brentanos plan for Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkte will be examined by drawing on the published work and especially on unpublished manuscripts. The volume that Brentano first published in 1874 under this title is by far the most important work that he published. Not only is it indispensable as a source for establishing Brentanos philosophical views on various topics, but it is also a classic in the history of philosophy and psychology. Moreover, the work in question may well prove to be of importance in current or future research concerning cognitive processes and intentionality as well. Yet, Brentano intended to publish a second volume, which he announced in the preface. While the first volume consists of two books concerned with psychology as a science and with psychical phenomena in general, the second volume was to contain four additional books, three of which were to be concerned with the three different basic classes of psychical phenomena (presentations, judgments, and phenomena of love and hate) respectively. The final book of this whole program was to involve a treatment of the problems of mind and body and of immortality. In all of Brentanos works which have been published posthumously the second volume of Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkte, as it was announced in 1874, has not been published. From Brentanos Nachlass certain manuscripts have, to be sure, been published, under the title Vom sinnlichen und noetischen Bewusstsein, as if they were a continuation of the original work. However, these manuscripts were written at a much later date and not at all designated by Brentano himself as such a continuation. Moreover, the editor took the liberty to choose them from very diverse sections of the Nachlass and even to present bits and pieces of them mixed together as he saw fit. The resulting volume can accordingly not be regarded as a continuation of Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkte. In Brentanos Nachlass there is, however, substantial material (Ps 53) which was explicitly designated by him as such a continuation. This material contains a draft for the continuation of the second book from the first volume of Psychologie vom empirichen Standpunkte and also contains a very extensive draft for the third book (on presentations). In addition to these materials, there is also what appears to be the beginning for an alternative draft for the third book. In the proposed research the material in Ps 53 is to be examined. No other material in Brentanos Nachlass seems to be meant as a continuation of the 1874. By 1890 he apparently projected a work on Psychognosie instead. In the proposed research the motivation behind this shift in his plans will also be examined.