Stephan Witasek

Stephan Witasek (1870–1915) was an Austrian philosopher noted for his contribution to the development of the Graz School. He is cited as the most talented psychologist of the school and was groomed as Alexius Meinong's successor. Witasek is noted for developing a theory of aesthetics within the Graz School's abstract object theory.

Biography Witasek was born on May 17, 1870, in Vienna, Austria to Wenzel Johann Witasek and his wife Emilie née Egery. His father was a chief railway inspector while his mother, the second wife of Wenzel, was a daughter of a Hungarian civil servant. He obtained a doctorate in philosophy under Alexius Meinong at the University of Graz in 1895 after completing his study on complexion theory. Although, he was known for serving as Meinong's private assistant for a decade on Austria's first psychological laboratory, Witasek would be credited for directing the facility's development only after his death.

Works Witasek is considered one of the most important representatives of the psychology of aesthetics alongside Theodor Lipps and Johannes Volkelt. His earliest works involved an investigation of the theoretical foundation for aesthetics. This was based on Gustav Fechner's studies, which challenged the idealistic and value-based approaches in aesthetics that prevailed then. This model links the aesthetic object to the subject's mental state.

One of the notable theories that Witasek pushed forward was his claim that pre-existing sensational elements create psychological products in the form of different perceptual configurations. He explored this idea further in collaboration with the Austrian-Italian psychologist, Vittorio Benussi, and the Austrian philosopher and psychologist, Alois Höfler. They were able to explain the process of generating perceptual configurations from the same sensory elements.

Publications

Grundzüge der allgemeinen Ästhetik (1904) Grundlinien der Psychologie (1907) Psychologisches zur ethischen Erziehung : Vortrag, gehalten in der XII. Versammlung der Österr. Gesellschaft für Kinderforschung in Wien, am. 13. mai 1907 (1907) Psychologie der Raumwahrnehmung des Auges (1910) Principii di estetica generale (1912)