Stumpf and Gestalt Psychology: Relations and Differences

The influence of Stumpf’s theoretical approach on the Gestalt psychology has been important and far-reaching. However, we can highlight considerable differences concerning aspects of paramount importance between Stumpf’s perspective and the Gestalt theory. It is not by chance that, with the shift from Stumpf to Köhler at the head of the Psychology Institute of Berlin, it was spoken of a “Stumpf era” and a “Koehler era”. In this paper, I will try to indicate some aspects on which Stumpf’s teachings had a profound impact for the Gestalt movement, as well as some aspects which mark a deep difference between the two approaches and which can be traced back to the different concept of phenomenology that characterized them.