Karl Ludwig Bühler (; 27 May 1879 – 24 October 1963) was a
German psychologist
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...
and
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
. In psychology he is known for his work in
Gestalt psychology, and he was one of the founders of the
Würzburg School of psychology. In linguistics he is known for his
organon model of communication and his treatment of
deixis
In linguistics, deixis () is the use of words or phrases to refer to a particular time (e.g. ''then''), place (e.g. ''here''), or person (e.g. ''you'') relative to the Context (language use), context of the utterance. Deixis exists in all known na ...
as a linguistic phenomenon.
He was the dissertation advisor of
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian–British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the ...
.
Early life and education
Bühler was born in
Meckesheim, Baden.
In 1899 he started medical school at the
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...
, where he received his doctorate in 1903. He continued working as an assistant, and started taking a second degree in psychology graduating in 1904. In 1906 he worked as an assistant professor at the University of Freiburg with von Kries, and as an assistant to
Oswald Külpe at the
University of Würzburg.
Career
In 1907 Bühler completed his
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
thesis at Würzburg, with the title ''Tatsachen und Probleme zu einer Psychologie der Denkvorgänge'' ("Facts and problems of the psychology of thought processes"). This text became foundational for the
Würzburg School of psychology and sparked heated controversy with
Wilhelm Wundt
Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and biology, was t ...
. In 1909 Bühler moved to the
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...
, becoming an assistant to Oswald Külpe.
From 1913 to 1918 Bühler worked as an associate professor in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. In
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
he performed military service as a doctor. In 1918, he was made a full professor of philosophy and education at the
Technical University of Dresden.
In 1922, he became Professor of Psychology at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
and the head of the Psychology Department. In the same year
Moritz Schlick and Robert Reininger were also appointed as full professors; the latter would become president of the Philosophical Society of Vienna until its disbandment in 1938.
Bühler participated in the founding of the Psychological Institute of Vienna as part of the city's efforts to reorganize the school system on the basis of new scientific findings about
child psychology. He also worked in the field of the
philosophy of language
Philosophy of language refers to the philosophical study of the nature of language. It investigates the relationship between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of Meaning (philosophy), me ...
as a follower of the school of
Franz Brentano,
Alexius Meinong, Josef Klemens Kreibig and
Alois Höfler.
Bühler's wife, Charlotte Bühler, followed him and received a professorship in Vienna. Both taught at the University of Vienna until their common emigration.
On 23 March 1938, Bühler was briefly detained by the
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
s, which caused him to flee to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1940, then to
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
. Finally he emigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, where he worked from 1940 to 1945 as a professor in
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
and from 1945 to 1955 as a professor of psychiatry at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
In 1959 Karl Bühler was honored with the Wilhelm Wundt Medal of the German Society of Psychology.
Personal life
During the war on April 4, 1916, he married
Charlotte Malachowski, a student of
Edmund Husserl
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology.
In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...
. Their daughter Ingeborg was born in 1917, and their son Rolf in 1919.
He died in Los Angeles.
Work
*Bühler, Karl (1934). ''Sprachtheorie''. Oxford, England: Fischer.
*Bühler, Karl (1934/1990). ''The Theory of Language: The Representational Function of Language (Sprachtheorie)'', p. 35. Translated by Donald Fraser Goodwin. Amsterdam: John Benjamin's Publishing Company. ISSN 0168-2555.
Notes
References
Short biography*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buehler, Karl
1879 births
1963 deaths
People from Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
People from the Grand Duchy of Baden
German psychologists
Austrian psychologists
20th-century American psychologists
Communication theorists
German expatriates in Austria
Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
Refugees in Norway
German expatriates in Norway
German semioticians
University of Southern California alumni