Waitz, Theodor (1821-1864)

Theodor Waitz (1821-1864) was a German philosopher who became a key figure in the anthropological and ethnological sciences in the 19^th century. Initially interested in individual psychology as an integral part of the natural sciences, he eventually placed the social context, in its ethnic diversity, at the centre of his attention. His major work, Anthropologie der Naturvölker, consisting of six volumes published between 1859 and 1864, systematised a vast ethnographic and philological literature and proposes a psychology of peoples that is more empirical than speculative. Attentive to the symbolic perception of reality in different human societies, Waitz does not ignore physiological data, but radically questions the notion of race. At the crossroads of several disciplines, his anthropology has international repercussions and remains an essential reference point in the history of the discipline.

Keywords: Philology | Psychology | Philosophy | Pedagogy | 19^th century | Germany | Race | Adolf Bastian | Wilhelm Wundt