Voices in Dialogue: Unpublished Correspondence Between Walter Blumenfeld (Peru) and Abraham Maslow (United States)

Caycho-Rodríguez T.; León R.; Salas G.; Arias Gallegos W.L.; Orbegoso-Galarza A.; Oré-Kovacs N. · Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences (2026) · DOI: 10.1002/jhbs.70063

Resumen

Correspondence between two people reveals their subjectivity and promotes knowledge acquisition beyond the academic realm. Abraham Maslow is a well-known figure in the academic world, and much has been written about his life, but little is known about his epistolary relationship with Walter Blumenfeld, a German psychologist who settled in Peru in 1935 and is considered the founder of scientific psychology in that country. This article analyzes the content of the 13 letters that Maslow and Blumenfeld wrote to each other between 1955 and 1959. It begins by presenting the life and work of each of them, and then reviews the letters in chronological order. This analysis reflects the personal and academic motivations of the two correspondents, who never met in person. They shared common interests, despite coming from different schools of thought (although not polar opposites), as they agreed on their holistic and molar perspective of psychology.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Universidad Científica del Sur; Universidad Ricardo Palma; Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de América Latina; Universidad Católica San Pablo