Principles of physiological psychology

the organic evolution of mental function

Abstract

This paper concludes a set of three translations of texts written by Wilhem Wundt, with the aim of presenting, in portuguese, three fundamental research axes of the patron of psychological science. The first two translations, already published, bring the wundtian project of an Experimental Psychology and some developments about its Folk Psychology. This last text recovers its discussion about a physiologically based psychology, through this introduction of his work Grundzüge Physiologischen der Psychologie, in which he seeks to establish criteria from which it is possible to sustain the presence of consciousness in living beings. In seeking the point where mental life begins, the author argues that we should not begin our search in the lower types of natural organization, but rather from the top to the lowest levels, since the manifestations of our own conscious life must always provide the reference standard in our judgments of similar aspects in other creatures. In the second section of the chapter, considerations are made about the physical substrate of mental functions.