Paul Julius Adolf Helwig (27 May 1893 – 7 August 1963) was a German stage-manager, script-writer, philosopher and psychologist, who has contributed in an original way to the analysis of human behavior. He was born in
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
, Germany, and died in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
.
His psychological approach has as a starting-point the chains of reactions and events which normally result from acting, and in which one remains involved because they present one possibilities to seize, problems to solve as well as challenges to take. This is typical for the literary drama, but can be seen in a less concentrated way in daily life. Problematic, if not pathological, behavior may arise if conditions for starting and continuing such a "drama of life" are insufficiently met. One of those conditions, the main one, is what Helwig calls "resistance": the resistance the physical and social environment offer to one's aims. If it is too much acting will be blocked, if it is too small action will be short-lived and be in want of intensity and impact.
Helwig characterizes his approach both as dramaturgical (1958) and behavioristic (1964), the latter because overt behavior is seen as the primary phenomenon, to be explained from the interaction action-environment instead of hypothetical inner forces and features. His "
behaviorism
Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understanding the behavior of humans and animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex evoked by the pairing of certain antecedent (behavioral psychology), antecedent stimuli in the environment, o ...
" starts, however, from very molar behavior units, unlike American behaviorism.
Works by Paul Helwig
Philosophical-psychological work
*Helwig, P. (1934): ''Die individuelle Relation. (Ein Beitrag zur Dialektik der Selbstheit).'' Universität Köln: thesis. 38 pages
*Helwig, P. (1936): ''Seele als Äusserung. Untersuchungen zur Leib-Seele Problematik.'' Leipzig en Berlijn: Teubner Verlag. 124 pages
(Mind as expression. Explorations of the body-mind relation)
*Helwig, P. (1936): ''Charakterologie.'' Leipzig: Teubner Verlag.
*Helwig, P. (1951): ''Charakterologie.'' 2nd revised edition. Stuttgartt: Klett Verlag.
*Helwig, P. (1965): ''Charakterologie.'' 3rd revised edition. Stuttgartt: Klett Verlag.
(Afterwards more than once reprinted in Herder-Bücherei.)
*Helwig, P. (1953): ''Die gewünschte und die gewollte Welt. Zur psychologischen Charakterisierung des Hysterikers und des Zwangsneurotikers.'' Psyche, VI, 10. Heft, p. 561-576.
(Passive desiring vs. active willing. On the psychological characterization of the hysterical and the compulsive patient.)
*Helwig, P. (1958): ''Dramaturgie des menslichen Lebens.'' Stuttgart: Klett.
(Dramaturgy of human existence.)
*Helwig, P. (1961): ''Psychologie ohne Magie. Der Mensch im Spannungsgefüge der Lebensdramatiek.'' München/Basel: Reinhardt.
(Psychology without magic. Man in the texture of the drama of life.)
*Helwig, P. (1964): ''Liebe und Feindschaft.'' München/Basel: Reinhardt. (Posthumous.)
(Love and hostility.)
Plays
(list may not be complete)
*1922: Das Eichenacher Spiel von der zehn Jungfrauen. ''Für die Aufführung im Juli, 1921, neu übersetzt und scenisch bearbeitet von Conrad Höfer und Paul Helwig.'' Verlag: Rahle, Eisenach, 1922.
*1938: Flitterwochen.
*1939: Irrfahrt der Wünsche.
*1939: Am helllichten Tag. Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag (1942?).
*1940: Götter auf Urlaub. Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag.
*1941: Der Barbar: eine historische Tragikomödie in 5 Aufzügen. Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag.
*1942: Schwarze Magie: Lustspiel in 3 Auzügen. Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag.
*1942: Die schöne Maria: Historische Komödie in 5 Aufzüge. Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag.
*1942: Lucille und Orleans: Eine dramatische Romanze in 5 Aufzüge. Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag.
*1942: Des Ruhmes und der Liebe Schwert: Eine dramatische Romanze in 5 Aufzüge. Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag.
*1943: Krampus und Angelika: Komödie in 3 Aufzüge un 1 Vorspiel. Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag.
*1947: Jupiter: Komödie in 3 Aufzüge. (Deutsche bearbeitung von Rober Boissy). Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag.
*1947: Familie Professor Linden. Deutsche Bearbeitung von "The Linden Tree" von J.B. Priestley. Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag (1948).
*1948: Die neue Stadt: Ein Spiel in 3 Aufzüge. Deutsche Bearbeitung von John Boynton. Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag.
*1948: Hier bin ich schon einmal gewesen: Schauspiel in 3 Aufzüge. Deutsche Bearbeitung von John Boynton. Berlin: Drei Masken Verlag.
*1949: Ernst Beiseite: Lustspiel in 3 Auzügen. Hamburg: Die Rampe, Bühnenvertrieb GmbH.
*1958: Die fremde Stadt. Übersetzung eines Spiel in 3 Aufzüge von J.B. Priestley. Weinheim: Dt. Laienspiel-Verlag.
Films
(list may be incomplete; in 1943 en '44 he was involved in making movies in Vienna and Prague)
*1925: ''
The Story of Lilian Hawley
''The Story of Lilian Hawley'' (German: ''Der Roman der Lilian Hawley'') is a 1925 German silent drama film directed by Franz W. Koebner and starring Lotte Neumann and Livio Pavanelli.Granger p.193
The film's sets were designed by the art dire ...
''. Scenario.
*1939: ''Mein Mann darf es nicht wissen''. Verfilming van ''Flitterwochen''.
*1940: ''Das leichte Mädchen''. Scenario samen met Fritz Peter Buch.
*1954: ''
Bon Voyage''. Scenario samen met Herbert Witt. Naar de gelijknamige Operette von Eduard Künneke
*1954: ''
The Man of My Life
The Man of My Life (french: L'Homme de sa vie) is a French film directed by Zabou Breitman, written by Breitman and Agnès de Sacy, and produced by Philippe Godeau. It was first released in 2006.
It stars Bernard Campan, Charles Berling, Léa Dr ...
''. Scenario (literatuurverfilming).
*1955: '. Scenario met Ursula Bloy.
*1955: ''
Love Without Illusions
''Love Without Illusions'' (German: ''Liebe ohne Illusion'') is a 1955 West German drama film directed by Erich Engel and starring Sonja Ziemann, Curd Jürgens and Heidemarie Hatheyer.Hake p.114
It was shot at the Spandau Studios in Berlin with ...
''. Dialogen.
*1956: '. Scenario met Heinz Oskar Wuttig.
*1957: ''
A Piece of Heaven
''A Piece of Heaven'' (German: ''Ein Stück vom Himmel'') is a 1957 West German romance film directed by Rudolf Jugert and starring Ingrid Andree, Toni Sailer and Margit Saad.Bock & Bergfelder p.227
The film's sets were designed by the art dir ...
''. Scenario met Juliane Kay.
Otherwise
(list perhaps not complete)
*1941: Jerika. ''Novel''. Wien-Leipzig: Alfred Ibach Verlag.
*1962: Pan - Pan - Potiphar: Die abstrakte Lyrik meines Vetters Alois Zeitvogel. ''Poems.'' Nürnberg: Glock und Lutz.
Nonsensical poems, which he pretends to stem from the heritage of a distant cousin, with a great many neologisms.
References
Prudon, Peter (2009): ''Ago ergo sum : Ik doe, dus ik ben. Het menselijk handelen vanuit existentieel-psychologisch gezichtspunt.'' (Amsterdam: FZP-press.)
(''Ago ergo sum : I act, therefore I am. Human action from an existential-psychological point of view.''
external link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helwig, Paul
1893 births
1963 deaths
German psychologists
Writers from Lübeck
German theatre directors
German male writers
20th-century psychologists
20th-century German philosophers