Max Wertheimer on seen motion: Theory and evidence

Summary Max Wertheimer, the chief founder of an experimentally based Gestalt psychology, conducted his pioneering studies in motion perception on new theoretical grounds. Since the influence of this approach may be greater in today's cognitive psychology than it has ever been during the half-century of introspectionism and radical behaviorism, it is appropriate to review the actual roots of Wertheimer's (1912) seminal publication and his continuing research on apparent and real motion perception in the light of past and recent work. Illustrative examples, especially of Wertheimer's early research, are provided in this paper. The implications of his experimentation and biopsychological theorizing are still of major interest for present psychological inquiry. Nevertheless, the need for more future systematic comparative research on motion perception must be emphasized. The Epilogue of this paper examines why important parts of Wertheimer's experimental contributions to psychology may have been underrated or neglected by many contemporary psychologists.Some of the issues dealt with here are treated at length in a three-part laudatio (Sarris, 1987a, b, 1988a). When this article was prepared for print, its original title, Max Wertheimer on Seen Motion: The Significance of Sound Experimentation for Present and Future Research, as presented at the Wertheimer Memorial Symposium, was changed to the present title. Under the present title, a brief version of this paper was presented at the APA Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, August 11–15, 1989.I am grateful for the comments and cooperative help provided by Carl F. Graumann, Michael W. von Grünau, Eckart Scheerer, and Michael Wertheimer.     

Carl Gustav before he became Jung

It was not until 1983 that Jung's first texts were published in London as The Zofingia Lectures . Not translated into French, The Zofingia Lectures are still not available to the French-speaking public. This delay is due to an oversight: tucked away in a drawer, these texts were only discovered after Jung's death. There are five lectures that were given between 28 November 1896 and 7 January 1899. Although written when young – Carl was twenty-one when he delivered the first lecture – they are worthy of interest. These lectures outline the major aspects of his subsequent work and reveal what we can call Carl's psychic wound and the tremendous energy that he drew on to survive.
However, without reading between the lines and without subjecting Jung to psychoanalytical interpretations, the author attempts to link the dynamics of these first works to certain autobiographical or epistolary confidences. This wound or Carl's father complex and the resulting deprivation are clearly mapped out here.     

Existential perspective in the thought of Carl Jung

It is argued that there is a significant existential perspective in the thought of Carl Jung. Similarities and differences with some of the views of Jean Paul Sartre are explored as a way of developing this perspective and to show how a philosophy of a man might be developed drawing from both sources. Jung is shown to be in disagreement with Sartre in defending an idea of a determinate human nature, describing the self in a developmental way, and in not claiming that human freedom is absolute or unconditioned. Nevertheless, the Jungian concept of individuation is similar to Sartre's ideal of authenticity, in that both focus on the goal of achieving meaningful existence through development of inner resources, creative exercise of freedom, and overcoming self-deception.     

A tribute to Max Wertheimer: Three stories of three days

Summary The development of Max Wertheimer's ideas about productive thinking is presented as a fable, taking its form from his own fable, A Story of Three Days. This development is traced from his early study of the thinking of tribal peoples to his paper of 1920 on the syllogism, and it draws on his book, Productive Thinking. In a final fable, the author very briefly surveys current work in the field of productive thinking.This paper was presented as a Centennial Lecture at the 1980 convention of the American Psychological Association in Montreal. It was part of APA's observance of the Centennial of experimental psychology and also presented in observance of the Centennial of Max Wertheimer's birth, April 15, 1880     

Carl Gustav Jung and Albert Einstein: An ambivalent relationship

Despite Carl Gustav Jung's acknowledgment of Albert Einstein's influence on his thinking, and despite the significant number of studies about Jung's interest in physics—and his collaboration with the theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli—so far there has been no thorough investigation into the connection between Jung and Einstein. This paper fills the void by reconstructing the circumstances of the meetings between the two men; by analysing the dynamics and importance of their relationship and by offering insights into the reasons why the connection did not last. The reconstruction of the narrative of this connection serves as a good foundation for future research into Einstein's intellectual influence on Jung.     

Jung's twin brother. Otto Gross and Carl Gustav Jung

This paper is a preliminary communication of several years of research into the life and work of the Austrian psychoanalyst and anarchist Otto Gross (1877–1920). Although he played a pivotal role in the birth of modernity, acting as a significant influence upon psychiatry, psychoanalysis, ethics, sociology and literature, he has remained virtually unknown to this day. Following a biographical sketch and an overview of his main theoretical contributions, the impact of Gross' life and work on the development of analytical theory and practice is described. His relationship with some of the key figures in psychoanalysis is presented, with particular emphasis on his connections to Jung. The paper concludes with an account of relevant contemporary interest in his work: the founding of the International Otto Gross Society, the first edition of The Collected Works of Otto Gross on the Internet, and the 1st and 2nd International Otto Gross Congresses which took place in Berlin in 1999 and at the Burghölzli Clinic, Zürich, in October 2000.     

The anthropology of Carl Jung: Implications for pastoral care

This article examines the basic tenets of Carl Jung's anthropology, including intrapsychic structure, relationships, society, and the process of individuation. It then turns to his ideas about God and religion. Jung builds his understanding of God from his work in psychology, and because of that method, there are several major problems with his theologizing. Nevertheless, his insights are extremely valuable to the field of pastoral care, and ministers would do very well to appreciate his contribution, though always with a critical eye to its limitation.     

Beyond synchronicity: the worldview of Carl Gustav Jung and Wolfgang Pauli

While exploring the phenomena of synchronicity, Carl Gustav Jung became acquainted with the quantum physicist Wolfgang Pauli and eventually began a collaboration with him. During that collaboration Jung's study of synchronistic phenomena underwent a considerable change; prior to the collaboration, Jung had stressed mainly the phenomenological and empirical features of synchronistic phenomena, while in association with Pauli, he focused his attention upon their ontological, archetypal character. Pauli, on the other hand, became increasingly sensitive to the philosophical aspects concerning the unconscious. Jung and Pauli's common reflections went far beyond psychology and physics, entering into the realm where the two areas meet in the philosophy of nature. In fact, as a consequence of their collaboration, synchronicity was transformed from an empirical concept into a fundamental explanatory-interpretative principle, which together with causality could possibly lead to a more complete worldview. Exploring the problematic character of the synchronicity concept has a heuristic value because it leads to the reconsideration of the philosophical issues that drove Jung and Pauli to clear up the conceptual background of their thoughts. Within the philosophical worldview arising from Jung and Pauli's discussions about synchronicity, there are many symbolic aspects that go against mainstream science and that represent a sort of criticism to some of the commonly held views of present day science.