Article ID: CBB001320552

Ancestor of the New Archetypal Biology: Goethe's Dynamic Typology as a Model for Contemporary Evolutionary Developmental Biology (2013)

unapi

As understood historically, typological thinking has no place in evolutionary biology since its conceptual framework is viewed as incompatible with population thinking. In this article, I propose that what I describe as dynamic typological thinking has been confused with, and has been overshadowed by, a static form of typological thinking. This conflation results from an inability to grasp dynamic typological thinking due to the overlooked requirement to engage our cognitive activity in an unfamiliar way. Thus, analytical thinking alone is unsuited to comprehend the nature of dynamic typological thinking. Over 200 years ago, J. W. von Goethe, in his Metamorphosis of Plants (1790) and other writings, introduced a dynamic form of typological thinking that has been traditionally misunderstood and misrepresented. I describe in detail Goethe's phenomenological methodology and its contemporary value in understanding morphological patterns in living organisms. Furthermore, contrary to the implications of static typological thinking, dynamic typological thinking is perfectly compatible with evolutionary dynamics and, if rightly understood, can contribute significantly to the still emerging field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo--devo).

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Authors & Contributors
Wenzel, Manfred
Kuhn, Dorothea
Giacomoni, Paola
Levit, Georgy S.
Goldstein, Amanda Jo
Thüring, Hubert
Concepts
Morphology
Biology
Botany
Romanticism
Evolution
Science and art
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
20th century
Enlightenment
20th century, early
Places
Germany
Naples (Italy)
Italy
Great Britain
Institutions
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Biologie, Berlin
Stazione Zoologica di Napoli
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