Oswald Külpe: The Würzburg School
Oswald Külpe (1862–1915) was interested in many things, including music, history, philosophy, and psy- chology. He was born of German parents in Rus- sian Latvia and wrote five books on philosophy for the lay reader, including one on Kant. Around 1881, he was studying history at the University of Leipzig when he attended Wundt’s lectures and became interested in psychology. After a stint with G. E. Müller at Göttingen, he returned to Leipzig.
Under Wundt’s supervision, Külpe received his doctorate in 1887, and he remained Wundt’s assis- tant for the next eight years. Külpe dedicated his book Outlines of Psychology (1893/1909) to Wundt. During his time as Wundt’s assistant, Külpe met and roomed with Titchener, and although the two often disagreed, they maintained the highest regard for one another. In fact, Titchener later translated sev- eral of Külpe’s works into English. In 1894 Külpe moved to the University of Würzburg, where for the following 15 years he did his most influential work in psychology. In 1909 he left Würzburg and went to the University of Bonn and then to the Uni- versity of Munich. After Külpe left Würzburg, his interest turned more and more to philosophy. He was working on epistemological questions when he died of influenza on December 30, 1915. He was only 53 years old.
