Review of Principles of Gestalt Psychology

Abstract

Reviews the book, Principles of Gestalt Psychology by Kurt Koffka (1935). Here is the long-awaited and much-needed Handbuch of configurationism by a gifted member of that school of thought. Although it is far from being as encyclopaedic as one could wish, it is an important work for psychologists by a psychologist--a fact which simultaneously enhances and limits the general usefulness of the volume--and establishes Koffka as the foremost authoritative exponent of Gestalt theory. The book is an ambitious and impressive affair which cannot be read with profit by anyone who is unwilling to devote an exceptional amount of rigorous and persistent thought to the task. Perhaps this production may ultimately rank with the Kritik der reinen Vernunft in significance--at least it is equally profound and almost as difficult in parts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)