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The Will To Create: Goethe'S Philosophy Of Nature

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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.

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