"At arm's length"
the interaction between phenomenology and gestalt psychology
pp. 1-21
in: Jack Reynolds, Richard Sebold (eds), Phenomenology and science, Berlin, Springer, 2016Abstract
Gestalt psychology is well known in phenomenological circles for its considerable influence on Aron Gurwitsch and on Merleau-Ponty. There is also a growing recognition of its influence of Sartre. Major contributions have also been made by scholars of Austrian philosophy in showing how Gestalt psychology and phenomenology arose out of the same intellectual milieu. The common origin of phenomenology and Gestalt psychology undoubtedly goes some way to explaining the readiness with which Gurwitsch, Merleau-Ponty, and Sartre appropriated Gestalt ideas, as well as the eagerness with which Gestalt psychologists incorporated or responded to phenomenological ideas. This mutual interaction, however, was far from uncritical.
