Theories

The titles and headings that Wundt used in his work were as much a part of understanding his work as the theories themselves. In the case of his Principles of Physiological Psychology, (1902 edition) the categories he provided served as more than simply an outline. They provided a direction, resonating with the significance of organization that Wundt brought to psychology: Part I, "The Bodily Substrate of the Mental Life;" Chapter I, "The Organic Evolution of Mental Function;" and, Section 1, "The Criteria of Mind and the Range of the Mental Life." His first paragraph for that edition presented the guiding force, not only for this treatise, but for his entire, lifelong investigation. He wrote that:

The mental functions form a part of the phenomena of life. Wherever we observe them, they are accompanied by the processes of nutrition and reproduction. On the other hand, the...