University of Virginia Library

WUNDT, William (1832-1900):

German philosopher and physiologist who initiated the study of PSYCHOLOGY as an academic discipline. Arguing that the mental or psychic have primacy over the physical, he opposed RATIONALISM and sought to develop a METAPHYSICS which saw GOD as the source of EVOLUTION. His works include The Influence of Philosophy on the Empirical Sciences (1876) and Elements of Folk Psychology (1916) which influenced the development of COMPARATIVE RELIGION.