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Goethe's Way of Science: A Phenomenology of Nature (Environ Architect Phen

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Examines Goethe's neglected but sizable body of scientific work, considers the philosophical foundations of his approach, and applies his method to the real world of nature.

Though best known for his superlative poetry and plays, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) also produced a sizable body of scientific work that focused on such diverse topics as plants, color, clouds, weather, and geology. Goethe's way of science is highly unusual because it seeks to draw together the intuitive awareness of art with the rigorous observation and thinking of science. Written by major scholars and practitioners of Goethean science today, this book considers the philosophical foundations of Goethe's approach and applies the method to the real world of nature, including studies of plants, animals, and the movement of water.

Part I discusses the philosophical foundations of the approach and clarifies its epistemology and methodology; Part II applies the method to the real world of nature; and Part III examines the future of Goethean science and emphasizes its great value for better understanding and caring for the natural environment.

"I especially like the fact that a major portion of this book is devoted to presenting the results of Goethean Science research. This sets the book apart from all others that have appeared in English. These few books have been heavy on theory and light on results. The integration of theory with practice makes this an important contribution." -- Bruce K. Kirchoff, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

"Goethe's Way of Science is a readable, highly original contribution to the study of environment. While challenging common paradigms of positivist, scientific methodology, the book does so unpretentiously, carefully and with much rigor. The range of examples provided by the authors is particularly illumining of the Goethean phenomenology of nature. I recommend this book to ecologists, scientists, philosophers, and students of nature as a thoughtful exploration of alternative ways of seeing the world and its living forms." -- Ingrid Leman Stefanovic, Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto

"This collection is a dazzling display of what can be done with Goethe's science when applied by competent scholars and researchers. The interplay of approaches (from the philosophical to the poetic, from the biological to the artistic) demonstrates how modern science can find a way out of the Gordian knot it has gotten itself into." -- Douglas E. Miller, Department of Foreign Languages, University of Michigan, Flint

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

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David Seamon

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for mahatmanto.
543 reviews38 followers
May 14, 2015
he..he..ini buku lama tapi asyik shg perlu aku tulis dikit di goodreads sini.
ternyata, goethe itu bisa dibilang sebagai pemikir fenomenolgi, meski hidup lebih kuna dibanding huserl yang sering disebut sebagai bapak fenom. itu karena metoda penelitian goethe yang khas fenom itu baru ketahuan belakangan. yaitu metoda meneliti benda-benda langsung dari bendanya sendiri, lalu merunut ke situs tempat ia tumbuh dan dibesarkan.
dengan membanding-bandingkan daun dari suatu spesies yang tumbuh di tempat-tempat yang berbeda didapat kesimpulan bahwa memang ada relasi akrab antara spesies dengan situsnya.
Profile Image for Mia Kalef.
1 review
July 6, 2017
A must read for the budding phenomenologist or fan of intuitive practices. Goethe was best known as a playwright (Faust), but was also a genius scientist. He developed a theory for colour that contested Newton's at the time, and also developed scientific protocols for understanding trees and their deep soul natures.
I loved reading this and found myself wishing the world was more like his.
It takes a while to order this book because it is from a University Press, but it's worth the wait!
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