eidology

The very possibility of a neutral science such as eidology shows that we can study values for themselves, independently of functions.

On A Trans-Atlantic Flight 2009

The study of the structures of the judgment's contents as such, apart from its functions and contingent states, is one of the tasks Stumpf assigns to this part of eidology (the neutral science which studies formations), which he calls the theory of states of affairs.

On A Trans-Atlantic Flight 2009

We know that logic is closely related to Stumpf's theory of relations and eidology, which are central elements in both his philosophical and empirical works.

On A Trans-Atlantic Flight 2009

Stumpf claims they represent three different fields of research, corresponding to three distinct sciences: phenomenology as the science of phenomena, eidology, which studies formations, and the general theory of relations understood as the science of relations as a whole.

On A Trans-Atlantic Flight 2009

In this perspective, the debate on psychologism takes a somewhat different meaning, since recognizing the merits of the principle of separation between psychology, understood as the foundation of human or social sciences, and the theory of knowledge, based on the three neutral sciences, the objection against Kant and his theory of knowledge is not only to have neglected psychology in the narrow sense of the term, but also to have underestimated the use of phenomenology, eidology, and relations theory to solve epistemological problems.

On A Trans-Atlantic Flight 2009

“eidology,” an expression that Stumpf borrowed from Herbart.

On A Trans-Atlantic Flight 2009