The descriptive psychology of Franz Brentano

This project proposes a reconstruction of Franz Brentanos (18381917) descriptive psychology research program (DPRP), as it was formulated in three lectures from the Vienna period: I: Descriptive psychology (1887/88), II: Descriptive psychology or descriptive phenomenology (1888/89) and III: Psychognosy (1890/91). The project aims to show that, despite the apparent marginal concern with descriptive psychologysometimes called psychognosy, phenomenognosy, or phenomenologyin works published during his lifetime, Brentano had a clear and well- developed conception of the theme as an investigation of the contents of our mental states; it was not developed as a prima philosophia, or as a system of philosophy, as it is often thought to be, but rather as a scientific research program of its own, which challenged other research programs of the time, such as Wundts physiological psychology or Fechners psychophysics. Furthermore, this project will show that DPRP was a structuring element of the influence exerted by Brentano on some of his students, most prominently on Husserl, Meinong, and Stumpf. These students have been described as renegades (Abtrünnige) by a particular school of orthodoxy led by Marty and some of his students in Prague, who defended (with some deviations) some of the ideas of Brentano as doctrines. Investigating Husserls and Stumpfs phenomenologies and Meinongs theory of objects from the perspective of DPRP will show that these are authentic contributions to DPRP, despite their dissidences with the doctrines. Finally, the research project will evaluate the relevance of DPRP in relation to more recent research programs in philosophy of mind, thereby stressing its significance in the development of some central ideas in this field of research. The editorial aspect of this research project will involve a transcription and edition of this set of three lectures, a translation into English, and the publication of the complete set, both in English and in German.

This project aimed at a reconstruction, both from a systematic and an historical perspective, of one of the most fertile and yet underestimated research programs in philosophy of mind at the turn of the 20th century, namely Franz Brentanos descriptive psychology. Brentanos programme aimed at providing an analytic account of our mental life which takes the subjective (empirical) point of view seriously, exploring the nature and structure of central psychological states and events such as consciousness, sensation, time perception (including inner time), perception of space, and studying their relation to association of ideas, habits and motivation. One of the central concerns of this project was to make Brentanos research program more accessible. Since this program has mainly been developed in courses and lectures, these were the main source of influence for most of his students in the development of their own research programs in philosophy of mind. Unfortunately, however, Brentanos lecture notes were never published extensively. One of the objectives of this project was therefore to provide a full edition and an English translation of Brentanos lectures on descriptive psychology, along with a series of publication by the project members analysing and reassessing this material, thereby opening new debates on the nature and role of descriptive psychology not only within Brentanos philosophy, but also, and more generally, in contemporary philosophy as well. A further concern of this project was to highlight the close relationship between Brentanos program and some current trends in contemporary philosophy of mind, especially those focusing on the irreducibility of the first-person perspective in the analysis of the mental. Here too, the project members contributed to a better understanding of that relationship by addressing these issues in many articles, but also by organizing many conferences and workshops on this topic in Salzburg, gathering together major figures in philosophy of mind and leading specialists of Brentano. The closing conference of the project was a success and the results will be published next year in the special issue of an important philosophical journal.