Paul Erman: Experimentelle Elektrizitätsforschung zwischen romantischer Naturphilosophie und aufgeklärtem Rationalismus

Abstract.

Paul Erman was the first professor of physics at the University of Berlin, founded in 1810. He was an outspoken opponent of romantic physics and especially of sciences like mesmerism, which was popular at the periphery of romantic philosophy. In the introduction a short biography of Erman is given, followed by a presentation of his position towards Romanticism. As will be shown, Erman didn’t criticize the ideas about the unity of nature, the concept of polarity or the use of analogies by romantic physicists, but instead used these in his own research. Nevertheless he was well aware of the limitations of such concepts and often warned against an overestimation of their power. In the last part of the essay Erman’s electrophysiological research is examined. He developed research strategies which aimed towards a positivistic physiology. This became the dominant approach to physiology especially in Germany in the later 19th century.