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Experimental introspection and religious experience: The dorpat school of religious psychology
Author(s) -
Wulff David M.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6696(198504)21:2<131::aid-jhbs2300210205>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - introspection , protestantism , successor cardinal , religious experience , ideal (ethics) , psychology , social psychology , psychology of religion , history of psychology , epistemology , sociology , religious studies , psychoanalysis , philosophy , cognitive psychology , mathematical analysis , mathematics
As the Würzburg school passed into history, its method of experimental introspection was adopted for the study of religious experience by Protestant theologian Karl Girgensohn and his followers, collectively known as the Dorpat school of religious psychology. Through the painstaking research reported in his Der seelische Aufbau des religiösen Erlebens (1921), Girgensohn sought to find in religious experience its essential elements. Under the leadership of Girgensohn's successor, Werner Gruehn, a decade of productive work followed, featuring research on children and adolescents, individual differences, and practical applications. Virtually halted by World War II, the work of the Dorpat school represents today a still viable ideal.