Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint is Brentano’s most important and brilliant work. It helped to establish psychology as a scientific discipline, but did so in a highly original and distinctive manner by arguing for a form of introspectionism. Brentano argued that consciousness is always unified and that the hallmark of the mind is that one’s thoughts are always directed towards something – his famous theory of ‘intentionality’ – arguments that have deep implications not just for philosophy but psychology, cognitive science and consciousness studies.
With a new foreword by Tim Crane.
Franz Brentano (1838-1917) was a pivotal figure in the development of twentieth century philosophy. His work influenced philosophers as diverse as Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenology and the philosopher and logician Gottlob Frege.