The Will To Create: Goethe'S Philosophy Of Nature [Hardcover]

Astrida Orle Tantillo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0822941775 | ISBN-13: 978-0822941774 | Edition: 1

Better known as a poet and dramatist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) was also a learned philosopher and natural scientist. Astrida Orle Tantillo offers the first comprehensive analysis of his natural philosophy, which she contends is rooted in creativity.

Tantillo analyzes Goethe’s main scientific texts, including his work on physics, botany, comparative anatomy, and metereology. She critically examines his attempts to challenge the basic tenets of Newtonian and Cartesian science and to found a new natural philosophy. In individual chapters devoted to different key principles, she reveals how this natural philosophy—which questions rationalism, the quantitative approach to scientific inquiry, strict gender categories, and the possibility of scientific objectivity—illuminates Goethe’s standing as both a precursor and critic of modernity.

Tantillo does not presuppose prior knowledge of Goethe or science, and carefully avoids an overreliance on specialized jargon. This makes The Will to Create accessible to a wide audience, including philosophers, historians of science, and literary theorists, as well as general readers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“ Tantillo provides a valuable, lucid analysis of Goethe’s scientific writings."
--Choice

From the Inside Flap

Renowned for his contributions to the literary world, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) believed his greatest accomplishments were in the fields of science and natural philosophy. In fact, Goethe predicted his scientific works would spark a revolution, eclipsing the theories of Newton and Enlightenment science.

Astrida Orle Tantillo offers the first comprehensive study of Goethe's natural philosophy, analyzing his work in such disciplines as physics, botany, morphology, zoology, and meteorology. She investigates the principles behind his conception of a will-driven nature, and analyzes their significance for such philosophical issues as objectivity, scientific method, and the status of natural law in general. Tantillo also critically examines Goethe's attempts to challenge the basic tenets of Newtonian and Cartesian science and his efforts to found a new natural philosophy.

Goethe offered a dynamic understanding of nature in which its parts, both animate and inanimate, act according to their own impulses. Goethe rejected fundamental behavioral theories such as instinct and divine intervention, and instead believed individual entities possess such a strong will to create that their choices and desires bring about changes in their own forms and modes of existence.

Because he saw nature as constantly evolving, Goethe discounted the possibility of ever discovering permanent truths. He argued that nature could only be studied in action and interaction with all of its parts, and assailed modern science's propensity for conducting experiments in controlled settings. Unlike such philosophers as Descartes, who advocated a complete separation between the thinker and the world, Goethe focused upon the individual's relationship with nature. He questioned scientists' objectivity and urged them to examine their own theoretical perspectives and prejudices while conducting research.

Goethe never achieved the scientific revolution he had hoped to lead. Though he has had his supporters and champions, his scientific works and natural philosophy never drew widespread support, and some of his claims have been proven wrong. His critique of mathematics, analysis, and reductive approaches made him seem unscientific, and his dynamic views of nature made his philosophy appear random especially when compared to the more systematic philosophers of his day. Many of his readers have seen his scientific works as poetic endeavors; some even suggested his writings were symptomatic of mental illness. In Tantillo's examination of Goethe's entire scientific corpus, however, we see his deep commitment to the experimental method, and how in many ways the principles underlying his radical brand of science point the way to modernity, both in the humanities and in science.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press; 1 edition (April 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822941775
• ISBN-13: 978-0822941774
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #593,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb study of Goethe's philosophy of nature., June 1, 2004

By 

Frank Bierbrauer (Cardiff, Wales, UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Will To Create: Goethe'S Philosophy Of Nature (Hardcover)

I thought long and hard about whether to buy this book but having read it I made the right choice. This book is one of the very best studies of German poet/dramatist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's work on science. Specifically, regarding his elusive philosophy of nature which is implicit in his works but never really laid out explicitly.

Instead of analysing Goethe's more well known ideas such as the "Archetype" she concentrates on the less well studied aspects of 1. Polarity, 2. Intensification, 3. Compensation and finally 4. Competition, Reproduction and Gender. Although much has been written on Polarity and to some degree on intensification almost nothing has been done on Compensation and Competition. Most of these former works only explored Goethe's philsophy of nature briefly, Tantillo has looked at it in some depth. Her book is rare for the sense of clarity she has brought to studies on Goethe. Most studies are, to say the least, vague in this regard and Tantillo has brought out why these studies did so basing her conclusions on the original works of Goethe as well as the possible reasons chosen by some authors.

In addition Tantillo clarifies the issue of the Archetypal organism which, before her work, was believed to be akin to a Platonic form, fixed and unchanging. However, she has brought to the fore statements by Goethe which allude to the idea of the archetype as a helpful concept on the path to a deeper understanding of organisms.

Tantillo studies not only Goethe's scientific texts but his literature as well and finds corresponding aspects in both, especially Goethe's novel "Elective Affinities" which portrays certain characters in a way related to his scientific work. She notes how Goethe believed in a creative nature not based on static laws but rather a nature always willing to express itself anew in some way beyond what already exists; in some sense breaking natural laws. remembering that "natural laws" are those aspects of the study of nature which have been supposed fixed and unchanging by scientists. She makes the point that Goethe knew about the fact that a human being brings with them certain preformed ideas which colour his/her reception of the new. Principally, the idea that nature is mechanical which therefore does not allow views outside of it.

Tantillo allows one to see that Goethe was a truly radical thinker not just of his own time but ours as well, going way beyond even radically new sciences such as Chaos theory. My only complaints are that she does not study aspects of Goethe's science such as the archetype in more detail and does not consider how to develop Goethe's insights further.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Analysis of Goethe's Philosophy of Nature, September 13, 2004

By 

Rebecca Johnson "The Rebecca Review" (Washington State) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Will To Create: Goethe'S Philosophy Of Nature (Hardcover)

Two souls, alas! Reside within my breast,

and each is eager for a separation:

in throes of coarse desire, one grips

the earth with all its senses;

the other struggles from the dust

to rise to high ancestral spheres

~Faust

Astrida Orle Tantillo has taken the four main principles of Nature's creative powers and discusses them in four sections that include Polarity, Steigerung and the Drive towards Complexity, Compensation and Competition.

This study is filled with extensive analysis of various translated works. I found the discussion of polarity to be of high interest and throughout the work I found moments of enlightened thought. I enjoyed trying out one of the color experiments on my own and had always wondered why when you stare at one color and then look at a white wall, you see a different color. So, this answered many of my questions. After reading this book you may not look at cloud formations in the same way or even look at plants as anything less than willful little beings reaching for the warmth of the sun.

After working your way through the introduction, you happen upon the Faust character and then we read about striving for completion and craving an opposite. This reminded me of David Deida's work with polarity and relationships although instead of struggling to separate spirituality and sexuality, he combines the two in a soul union while we still live on earth. There is a mention of sexuality being about a longing for a former wholeness.

I liked the idea of Lucifer being a polar opposite and the creation myth was interesting although I'm willing to accept the biblical view. This simply took the ideas one step further and explained why God would create Lucifer. I also liked the idea of love serving as a unifying force between opposites.

There is a great deal of discussion as to how Goethe's views differ from Newton and Descartes and many others. Goethe's Theory of Colors also takes prominence in this work. It is interesting to wonder why yellow is a happy color or why colors affect us pathologically. For example, green is calming and red seems to inspire poetic creations.

The section about why Goethe praised Shakespeare suddenly brought me to a realization of why most of my favorite movies do contain themes of opposing worlds and the reconciliation of opposing elements. By incorporating conflicting elements, a movie or play becomes a much richer work of art.

There are also discussions about an individuals drive towards internal development and how we can break free from old patterns and find a balance between the rational and passionate.

Because love, our holiest blessing

Looks for consummate fruit, marriage of minds, in the end,

One perception of things, that together, concerted in seeing,

Both to the higher world, truly conjoined, find their way.

~from Goethe's The Metamorphosis of Plants

This is a very readable work that gives a good overview of Goethe's Philosophy of Nature and there are many areas in this book to awaken your own inquisitive nature and a few thoughts connected with other books I've been reading and suddenly puzzle pieces of thought started to join together to form a coherent understanding.

~The Rebecca Review