Psychological

by Friedrich Eduard Beneke

The Psychological Argument asserts that a priori forms reside in the psyche of the knowing subject. This approach was initially proposed as an extension of the anthropological argument but later became the foundation for the philosophy of psychologism. Philosophers like Friedrich Beneke argued that a priori forms are the result of mental processes occurring in the human mind.

In his book Observations on the Mental Activity of Man (1820), Beneke wrote:

“What we call a priori forms is the result of the interaction between our psyche and the world, but their origin should be sought in the depths of the human mind.”

This theory led to the development of various disciplines such as “Psychology of Mathematics,” “Psychology of Logic,” and “Psychology of Philosophy.” These fields explore how mental processes influence the formation of our knowledge and conceptual structures.

However, despite its initial success, the psychological argument gradually gave way to empiricism. If a priori forms of knowledge are products of the psyche, they become accessible to empirical investigation, undermining their status as independent and universal foundations of knowledge. This approach effectively reduces apriorism to empiricism by claiming that a priori forms can be explained and studied through psychology, thereby stripping them of their independent status.

epistemology lenses psychologism