Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) and the origins of psychology as an experimental and social science

Some of the inadequacies and inaccuracies in the historical accounts of Wundt's life and work which are currently available in English are identified and discussed. The reasons which led Wundt to separate his social from his experimental psychology are examined in some detail and the nature and significance of his Völkerpsychologie (1900–1920) is briefly reviewed. Attention is drawn to Wundt's influence on the development of social sciences other than psychology with special reference being made to his influence on Durkheim and to the nature of the relationship between his Völkerpsychologie and the social psychology of G. H. Mead.