It is not surprising that you mistook me for one of those who, in the
pride of modern science, have only ridicule, or, at best, indifference,
for every thought of a beyond. All about us, indeed, we see the men with
a scientific view of the world and the men with a religious view of the
world in two sharply separated camps... It seems as if science and
religion could no longer be harmonized. And yet, my friend, I feel that
they belong together... -from The Eternal Life As a psychologist and an
innovator of experimental psychology, Hugo Münsterberg was a powerful
influence on thinking in both the medical and social arenas at the turn
of the 20th century, developing practical applications of psychology to
industry, medicine, education, the arts, and criminal investigation.
Here, though, in this surprising work, Münsterberg addresses a conundrum
that continues to vex American culture today: the war between faith and
reason. Framed as a chat with a friend after the death of a colleague,
this 1905 lecture explores the boundaries of knowledge that constrain
both science and religion, and the significance and insight that can be
drawn from both. Not merely a sophisticated consideration of one of the
most troublesome philosophical matters of our time, this is also an
intriguing glimpse into the mind of a man whose work continues to impact
today's understanding of the mind and how it shapes human behavior. Also
available from Cosimo Classics: Münsterberg's Psychology and Social
Sanity, The War and America, American Traits, and Psychotherapy OF
INTEREST TO: readers of popular psychology, students of the culture
wars, seekers after wisdom German-American psychologist and philosopher
HUGO MÜNSTERBERG (1863-1916) was professor of psychology at Harvard
University from 1892 until his death. He was elected president of the
American Psychological Association in 1898.
