Although Wilhelm Wundt is often praised in history of psychology textbooks as the founding father of scientific psychology, a large part of his work is ignored by contemporary psychologists, especially that concerned with the relationship between philosophy and his psychological thought. The aim of this article is to present an outline of the philosophical assumptions underlying Wundt's project for a scientific psychology. After a brief review of the context of his work and a presentation of some problems of interpretation in contemporary literature, his views on the subject matter and method of psychology are examined. Moreover, two fundamental principles of his psychological project are presented: the principle of psychophysical parallelism and the principle of creative synthesis. Finally, having cleared up some misunderstandings, the relevance of Wundt's thought for contemporary debates in psychology is suggested.
Philosophy of psychology; Wundt; Concept of experience; Psychophysical parallelism; History of psychology