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Man or Matter – Ernst Lehrs (1951)
- eternalban 6y agoThis book was referenced in the intriguing wiki article on Goethe's Theory of Color. The referenced passage (below) sums up and clarifies the essential nature of the discord between the respective natural philosophical outlook of Newton and Goethe. "The renouncing of life and immediacy, which was the premise for the progress of natural science since Newton, formed the real basis for the bitter struggle which Goethe waged against the physical optics of Newton. It would be superficial to dismiss this struggle as unimportant: there is much significance in one of the most outstanding men directing all his efforts to fighting against the development of Newtonian optics." - Werner Heisenberg, during a speech celebrating Goethe's birthday [ref'd in OP] Generalizing, one could formulate this duality as the objective (Newton) vs subjective (Goethe) understanding of Nature. In terms of contemporary concerns, this can inform consideration of topics ranging from interpretations of QM, mechanical minds and decision making systems, to transhumanism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Colours https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Colours