Lazarus, Moritz

Lazarus, Moritz 

Born Sept. 15,1824, in Filehne (present-day Wieleń), Poland; died April 13, 1903, in Merano, Italy. German idealist philosopher. One of the founders of ethnopsy chology. Professor at universities in Bern (1860) and Berlin (1873–96).

Lazarus belonged to J. F. Herbart’s philosophical school. In 1859, he founded, with H. Steinthal, the journal Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie und Sprachwissenschaft. Following the tradition of the psychological teachings of Herbart, Lazarus viewed the concept of “national spirit” as a derivative from individual psychology. Objective manifestations of national spirit include language, mores, and social institutions. The concept of ethnopsychology was continued from a different standpoint by the German psychologist W. Wundt.

WORKS

Das Leben der Seele …, 3rd ed., vols. 1–3. Berlin, 1885–1917.
Über die Ideen in der Geschichte, 2nd ed. Berlin, 1872.
Ideale Fragen …. 3rd ed. Leipzig, 1885.
Die Ethik des Judentums, vols. 1–2. Berlin, 1898–1911.

REFERENCES

Leicht, A. Lazarus als Begründer der Völkerpsychologie.Leipzig, 1904.
Sganzini, C. Die Fortschritte der Völkerpsychologie von Lazarus bis Wundt. Bern, 1913.

A. G. MYSLIVCHENKO