Genius, Psychology, and the Formation of the Self in Nineteenth-Century Greece: G. M. Vizyenos's Psychological Studies on the Beautiful (1885)

Abstract

Abstract:In his essay "Intellectual Geniuses" in Psychological Studies on the Beautiful (1885), Georgios Vizyenos discusses the development of exceptional abilities by analyzing the psychological mechanism of inclination, common to all humans. Deftly displacing the question of genius toward the question of why people are different in the first place, he orchestrates a debate on the ontological definition of the soul, which allows him to criticize the Herbartian model dominant within the nascent field of psychology at the University of Athens. Along with its academic stakes, Vizyenos's reflection on genius has wider implications insofar as it revolves around questions of natural inequality and justice. His essay touches upon one of the core problems of modern capitalist democracies—namely, how to reconcile differences in abilities and talents with the ethical and political principle of equality.