BACK TO THE ORIGINS OF THE REPUDIATION OF WUNDT: OSWALD KULPE AND RICHARD AVENARIUS

This essay provides a fresh account of the break between Oswald Kulpe and his master Wilhelm Wundt. Kurt Danziger's reconstruction of the "repudiation" of Wundt, which has become the canon for this significant episode of history of psychology, focused on the supposed influence of ErnstMach on this set of events, overshadowing the other exponent of Empiriocriticism: Richard Avenarius. Analyzing archival documents and examining anew the primary sources, the paper shows that Avenarius was himself a member of Wundt's circle, and that his "repudiation" of the master paved the way for Kulpe. The essay points out the original anti-Wundtian aspects of Avenarius' notion of psychology, thus showing how they were then adopted by Kulpe. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.