Kurt Lewin - Principles of topological psychology (1936)

9 Sourced Quotes

View all Kurt Lewin Quotes
The young mathematical disciple 'topology' might be of some help in making psychology a real science.

Kurt Lewin
Lewin formally defines a Gestalt as:
a system whose parts are dynamically connected in such a way that a change of one part results in a change of all other parts.

Kurt Lewin
Theoretical psychology in its present state must try to develop a system of concepts which shows all the characteristics of a Gestalt, in which any part depends upon every other part. As we do not yet have the knowledge of facts which really suffices to determine this system of concepts and as, on the other hand, this knowledge of "facts" cannot be acquired without developing this system of concepts, there seems to be only one way open: to proceed slowly by tentative steps, to make decisions rather reluctantly, to keep in view always the whole field of psychology, and to stay in closest contact with the actual work of psychological research.

Kurt Lewin
A goal can play an essential role in the psychological situation without being clearly present in consciousness.

Kurt Lewin
In psychology one can begin to describe the whole situation by roughly distinguishing the person (P) and his environment (E). Every psychological event depends upon the state of the person and at the same time on the environment, although their relative importance is different in different cases.

Kurt Lewin
After this first approximation, the various aspects of the situation undergo a more and more detailed analysis. In contrast to this the second method [for analysis of life space] begins with the life space as a whole and defines its fundamental structure. The procedure in this case is not to add disconnected items but to make the original structure more specific and differentiated. This method therefore proceeds by steps from the more general to the particular and thereby avoids the danger of a "wrong simplification" by abstraction.

Kurt Lewin
[Life space was defined as] the totality of facts which determine the behavior (B) of an individual (or group/organization) at a certain moment. The life space (L) represents the totality of possible events. The life space includes the person (P) and the environment (E). B = f(L) = f(P. E)

Kurt Lewin
Even if all the laws of psychology were known, one could make a prediction about the behavior of a man only if in addition to the laws, the special nature of the particular situation were known.

Kurt Lewin
We no longer seek the cause of events in the nature of a single isolated object, but in the relationship between an object and its surroundings.

Kurt Lewin