Although little emphasized in the historiography of psychology, the eighteenth century portrays very rich discussions on fundamental issues in psychology. This is the case of Johann Nicolaus Tetens’s magnum opus, Philosophische versuche über die menschliche natur und ihre entwickelung (1777). The goal of this paper is to present the main aspects of the subject matter and method of psychological investigation in that work. Our analysis suggests that, despite being a philosophical discipline, psychology constitutes a specific field of knowledge, a science based on selffeeling. Besides, we present textual evidence to support the thesis that empirical psychology is, according to Tetens, propaedeutic to metaphysics.
Keywords:
Johann Nicolaus Tetens, psychology, introspection, history of psychology, philosophy of psychology
Araujo, S. de F., & Lauro, M. (2018). The Nature of Psychology in Johann Nicolaus Tetens’s Philosophical Essays (1777). Revista De Psicología, 27(1), pp. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-0581.2018.50746
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