Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Portmann, Goethe and Modern Biology: Two and a Half Ways of Looking at Nature

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Adolf Portmann

Part of the book series: Biosemiotics ((BSEM,volume 23))

Abstract

A fundamental and bold claim of Portmann’s philosophy of biology is a thesis about the autonomy of self-representation (Selbstdarstellung) of all living beings: “Self-presentation has to be understood as a basic fact of life, on a par with self-maintenance and the preservation of the species.” In other words, the perceivable appearance of organisms cannot be reduced to its chemical, physiological, morphological or functional causes, but must be understood as a phenomenon in its own right. The aim of the following contribution is threefold. First, it aims at establishing the relevant context for the bold claim by embedding the claim in Portmann’s broader view of biology. Secondly, it aims at reconstructing Portmann’s rather scattered argument for the bold claim by recasting it as an appeal to what Portmann calls “unaddressed authentic appearances” (unadressierte eigentliche Erscheinungen). Finally, it presents Portmann’s partly phenomenological approach to biological phenomena as a reluctant relative of Goethe’s approach, thereby claiming that Portmann is no advocate of a genuine Goethean science of nature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Portmann’s general point of view on biology is laid out in Portmann (1961). This relatively small book constitutes the summa of Portmann’s thinking on biology. The philosophical importance of Portmann’s reflection on the nature of biology is best acknowledged in Grene (1968: 3–54, 1974:s 254–293).

  2. 2.

    Portmann worked on these topics during his very productive career. For morphology cf. Portmann (1948a, last edition Senn 2013) and Portmann (1948b), which deals with the “self-representation” (Selbstdarstellung) of the animal Gestalt; for ethology cf. Portmann (1953c); for anthropology cf. Portmann (1944, 1956).

  3. 3.

    By expressing this thought as a “relative autonomy” I take criticisms of very liberal formulations of the thesis of multiple realization into account (Shapiro 2004); to be sure, there are material and biological constraints for function-carrying structures, yet the idea of multiple realization still holds within those constraints.

  4. 4.

    For the notion of intuitive judgement in Goethe’s view of natural philosophy or natural science cf. Förster (2012), Hindrichs (2011). For elaborations on Förster’s view see Haag und Wild (2013), for an elaboration of different views of intuition see Wild (2012).

  5. 5.

    Portmann’s extensive data collection has recently played a role in the establishment of a new nomenclature of the bird brain. Primates have been taken to be the most cognitively advanced creatures in the animal kingdom. Recently, birds have been shown to be cognitively very sophisticated as well. The New Caledonian crow, the blue jay or the grey parrot are just the more celebrated examples. In primates and other mammals, the exercise of cognitive skills is controlled by the neocortex, a brain structure birds lack. The brains of mammals and birds have very different structures; in addition, birds have much smaller brains than apes. However, both types of brain are wired in similar ways. This, however, raises two questions: Are avian and mammalian brains comparable? Do we have to redraw the atlas of the avian brain? Simply put, the answer to both questions is: Yes.

  6. 6.

    Portmann’s additional thesis accounts for an “extra-uterine year” (extrauterinäres Frühjahr) during the first year after birth, allowing the human infant to develop cognitive and motor-neuronal skills in a sociocultural environment, which is also an inference from a comparative series. For a recent discussion of Portmann’s hypothesis see Dunsworth et al. (2012).

References

  • Allen, C., & Bekoff, M. (1997). Species of mind. The philosophy and biology of cognitive ethology. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amrine, F., & Zucker, F. J. (1987). Goethe’s science. An alternative to modern science or within it – Or no alternative at all? In F. Amrine & F. J. Zucker (Eds.), Goethe and the sciences. A reappraisal (pp. 373–388). Boston: D. Riedel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, M. R., & Hacker, P. M. S. (2003). Philosophical foundations of neuroscience. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunsworth, H. M., et al. (2012). Metabolic hypothesis for human altriciality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(38), 15212–15216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Förster, E. (2012). The twenty-five years of philosophy. A systematic reconstruction. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Godfrey-Smith, P. (1994). A modern history theory of functions. Noûs, 28(3), 344–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godfrey-Smith, P. (2016). Mind, matter, and metabolism. The Journal of Philosophy, 113(10), 481–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grene, M. (1968). Approaches to a philosophical biology. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grene, M. (1974). The understanding of nature. Essays in the philosophy of biology. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, P. (1993). Functional analysis and proper functions. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 44, 409–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haag, J., & Wild, M. (Eds.). (2013). Übergänge - diskursiv oder intuitiv? Essays zu Eckart Försters Die 25 Jahre der Philosophie. Frankfurt/M: Klostermann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegge, H. (1996). Transcending darwinism in the spirit of goethe’s science: A philosophical perspective on the works of Adolf Portmann. Newsletter of the Society for the Evolution of Science, 12(2), 1–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heinemann, F. (1934). Goethe’s phenomenological method. Philosophy, 9(33), 67–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hindrichs, G. (2011). Goethe’s notion of an intuitive power of judgment. Goethe Yearbook, 18, 51–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krämer, D. M. (2014). Revisiting recent etiological theories of functions. Biology and Philosophy, 29(5), 747–759.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthen, M. (2000). The disunity of color. Philosophical Review, 108, 47–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthen, M. (2005). Seeing, doing and knowing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Millikan, R. (1989). In defense of proper functions. Philosophy of Science, 56(2), 288–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, S. D. (1995). Functions, fitness, and disposition. Biology and Philosophy, 10, 39–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, P. (2012). How should we think about the ribosome? Annual Review of Biophysics, 41, 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neander, K. (1991). Functions as selected effects. Philosophy of Science, 58, 168–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neander, K., & Rosenberg, A. (2012). Solving the circularity problem for functions: A response to Nanay. The Journal of Philosophy, 109(10), 613–622.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polger, T. W., & Shapiro, L. A. (2016). The multiple realization book. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1944). Biologische Fragmente zu einer Lehre vom Menschen. Basel: Schwabe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1946). Étude sur la cérébralisation chez les oiseaux I. Alauda, 14, 2–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1947). Étude sur la cérébralisation chez les oiseaux II. Les indices intra-cérébraux. Alauda, 15, 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1948a). Einführung in die vergleichende Morphologie der Wirbeltiere. Basel: Schwabe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1948b). Die Tiergestalt. Studien über die Bedeutung der tierischen Erscheinung. Basel: Friedrich Reinhardt. (Translation into English: Animal Forms and Patterns: A Study of the Appearance of Animals, 1967).

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1953a). Goethes Naturforschung. Neue Schweizer Rundschau, 21, 406–422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1953b). Biologie und Geist. Zürich: Rhein-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1953c). Das Tier als soziales Wesen. Zürich: Rhein-Verlag. (Translation into English: Animals as Social Beings, 1961).

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1956). Zoologie und das neue Bild des Menschen. Hamburg: Rowohlt. (Partial translation into English: A Zoologist Looks at Humankind, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1957). Die Erscheinung der lebendigen Gestalten im Lichtfelde. In K. Ziegler (Ed.), Wesen und Wirklichkeit des Menschen. Festschrift für Helmut Plessner (pp. 29–41). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1961). Neue Wege der Biologie. München: Piper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1965). Aufbruch der Lebensforschung. Zürich: Rhein-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1972). Farbensinn und Bedeutungen der Farben aus biologischer Sicht. Eranos Jahrbuch, 41, 465–491.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1973). Goethe und der Begriff der Metamorphose. Goethe Jahrbuch, 90, 11–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portmann, A. (1987). Goethe and the concept of metamorphosis. In F. Amrine, F. J. Zucker, & H. Wheeler (Eds.), Goethe and the sciences. A reappraisal (pp. 133–145). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Scheler, M. (1926). Die Wissensformen und die Gesellschaft. Probleme einer Soziologie des Wissens. Leipzig: Der Neue Geist Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheler, M. (1980). Problems of a sociology of knowledge. London: Routledge & Kegan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senn, D. G. (2013). Einführung in die Morphologie der Wirbeltiere (begründet von Adolf Portmann). Basel: Schwabe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, L. A. (2004). The mind incarnate. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shettleworth, S. J. (2010). Cognition, evolution and behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smit, H., & Hacker, P. M. S. (2014). Seven misconceptions about the mereological fallacy: A compilation for the perplexed. Erkenntnis, 79(5), 1077–1097.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wild, M. (2012). Intuitionen, intuitiver Verstand, Intuition. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie, 60(6), 1011–1018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Markus Wild

Authors
  1. Markus Wild
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Markus Wild .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, University of Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

    Filip Jaroš

  2. Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, University of Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

    Jiří Klouda

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Wild, M. (2021). Portmann, Goethe and Modern Biology: Two and a Half Ways of Looking at Nature. In: Jaroš, F., Klouda, J. (eds) Adolf Portmann. Biosemiotics, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67810-4_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67810-4_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-67809-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-67810-4

  • eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation