Home > Encyclopedia of Psychology > Medard Boss

1903-1990
Swiss psychotherapist who helped build the concept of existential psychology.

The idea of combining psychology and philosophy may seem to run counter to the idea of psychology as a science. But psychology is a science of the mind, and the releationship between the mind and ideas is critically important to psychological study. Medard Boss, trained as a physician, used his knowledge of philosophy to help humanize psychology. He spent his career developing the concept he called Daseinanalysis. "Dasein" is a German word meaning "being there," and it forms a critical element of the philosophy of Martin Heidigger (who became a friend of Boss).

Boss was born in St. Gallen, Switzerland on October 4, 1903 and raised in Zurich. Zurich during the early years of the twentieth century was one of the leading cities for psychological research. Trained as a physician, Boss received his...