Dall' "anima" alla "psiche". Il problema epistemologico della psicologia da Kant a Freud

"From Soul to Psyche. The Epistemological Problem of Psychology from Kant to Freud"Keywords:psychology, soul, psyche, body, representation, phenomenon, conscious, unconsciousness. The aim of the current work, and also its starting point, is to consider Freud within the late 19th century’s Austro-German empirical psychology. Under this lens he can be considered as the highest point oh this psychological tradition. After Kant’s twofold critique on the scientific value of rational and empirical psychology, in 19th century there was an attempt to revive scientific psychology that had to taking into account new discovering that take place at that time in biology an physiology. Starting from this intersection between philosophy, psychology and physiology, it’s proposed to analyse three models of “scientific psychology” that, for different reasons, looks to flow into Freudian psychological paradigm. The first model is represented by Herbart’s psychology. It looks like a kind of metaphysics applied to the internal experience, based on a mathematical method. In the so called Mechanik des Geistes, the soul (Seele) and its perturbation and self-preservation movements, manifest themselves in Vorstellungen’s static and mechanics. The second step analyses Fechner’s psychophysics, an experimental and quantitative psychological model based on mathematical measuring of intensity variations between stimulus and sensation (Weber- Fechner’s Law). This process of measuring is based on the metaphysical principle of a functional relation of interdependence between Körper and Seele. The third passage approaches Brentano’s evolution from a “psychology of the soul” to a psychology of “psychical phenomena” (psychische Phänomene). It is organized as an empirical, qualitative and descriptive psychology. The last step addresses the figure of Freud that seems to gather the aim of that time: creating a scientific psychology both speculative and practical. As shown, it will be analysed Freudian’s psychological paradigm that will attempts to give a both quantitative and qualitative “psychical system”. It applies to be at the same time, quantitative and descriptive, and that proposes a concept of the “psyche” that is imagined like a unity that contains and refers to a psychophysical multiplicity. This concept is based on a non-identity relation between the “psyche” and the “consciousness”, and will include also the unconscious dimension to complete the complex unity of psyche.