Gestalt Theory : An Essay in Philosophy

The Austrian philosopher Christian von Ehrenfels published his essay "On 'Gestalt Qualities'" in 1890. The essay initiated a current of thought which enjoyed a powerful position in the philosophy and psychology of the first half of this century and has more recently enjoyed a minor resurgence of interest in the area of cognitive science, above all in criticisms of the so-called 'strong programme' in artificial intelligence. 1 The theory of Gestalt is of course associated most specifically with psychologists of the Berlin school such as Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka. We shall see in what follows, however, that an adequate philosophical understanding of the Gestalt idea and of Ehrenfels' achievement will require a close examination not merely of the work of the Berlin school but also of a much wider tradition in Austrian and German philosophy in general. Ehrenfels' essay of 1890 was published in the 'journal of scientific philosophy' [Vierteljahrsschrift fur wissenschaftliche Philosophie 1 edited by the positivist philosopher Richard Avenarius, and we can assume that Ehrenfels' decision to publish in Avenarius' journal was influenced by the fact that his essay had been provoked by certain passages on perception in the writings of Ernst Mach, with whom Avenarius is commonly associated. The most important influence on Ehrenfels' thinking was however that of his own principal teacher Franz Brentano, and Ehrenfels belongs to an impressive list of gifted and original thinkers including Alexius Meinong, Edmund Husserl, Carl Stumpf, Anton Marty and Kasimir Twardowski whose philosophy was shaped decisively by that of Brentano. It is not my intention here to go into the details of Ehrenfels' biography.2 I shall mention only that, like so many ofthe leading figures