News and Comments
Munsterberg Replies to Criticism. In the January and February numbers of The Psychological Clinic for 1909 appeared a criticism of some of the scientific work of Professors Munsterberg, James and Royce. Up to the present time no published answer has been made to this criticism. Professor Munsterberg, however, has not been inactive. Rumor had it that he wrote to the Council of the American Psychological Association, stating that he could not invite the Association to hold its recent meeting in Emerson Hall so long as Professor Witmer remained a member of the Association, and suggesting at least by implication that Professor Witmer be expelled from membership prior to the last annual meeting. Professor Witmer therefore introduced at the business session of the annual meeting a resolution requesting the President and Council of the American Psychological Association to forward to him a copy of the correspondence had between them and Professor Miinsterberg in relation to this matter. The President of the Association hereupon turned lawyer, and ruled the resolution out of order on the quibble that no such letter had been received by the Council from Professor Munsterberg. Professor Miinsterberg, however, saved the situation for Professor Witmer, and stated that he had written a letter to the Council or to members of the Council, in which he had taken up the cudgels in behalf of his colleagues, Professors James and Royce (modesty perhaps forbade him to act in this matter in his own behalf). In this letter he said that he could not invite to Emerson Hall, devoted as it was to the highest traditions of scholarship, an Association which included among its membership one who had insulted with his criticism men of the standing of his two colleagues.
To meet this covert attack of Professor Munsterberg, it is sufficient to give the widest publicity possible to Profesor Miinsterberg’s method of answering scientific criticism. It is worth asking, however, by what right a member’ of the faculty of Harvard University can exclude from any of its buildings one who is personally distasteful to himself. It is hardly credible that Professor Munsterberg acted in this matter with the authority of the President and Corporation of the institution which he represents, and from whom he acquires his only authority over Emerson Hall and his own laboratory of psychology. The distinguished philosopher whose name adorns the building from which Professor Munsterberg sought to exclude his critic would be the first, were he alive, to appreciate the irony of the situation. No one stood more frankly for freedom of speech and thought than Emerson. (248)
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.