Goethe’s Reversed Understanding

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe sought a scientific approach that

“… did not treat nature as fragmented, but rather as a living entity, striving from the whole into its parts.”

The key insight here is a reversal in perspective. Instead of constructing knowledge from isolated components toward a whole, Goethe proposed starting with the whole and observing its expression through various parts. Bortoft, significantly influenced by Goethe, demonstrated a remarkable capacity to perceive this wholeness directly in the natural world.

Beyond "Unity in Multiplicity"

Conventional scientific classification tends to begin with completed entities—like organs or entire organisms—and then abstracts commonalities to uncover a "unity in multiplicity." However, this unity is often abstract, reductive, and static, overlooking the dynamic processes inherent in nature. Bortoft pointed out that such an approach leads to a dead end, as it fails to recognize the vibrant, generative activities within the natural world.

Goethe’s perspective, as Bortoft elaborates, moves in the opposite direction, viewing the world as a continuous unfolding. Goethe illustrated this beautifully when he stated:

"It occurred to me that in the organ we typically refer to as the leaf, the true Proteus is concealed, capable of manifesting in various forms. Forward and backward, the plant is solely leaf..."

He further noted that nature

“… generates one part from another, creating the most diverse forms through the modification of a single organ…”

Here, Goethe emphasizes the dynamic nature of transformation.

Bortoft contended that this way of thinking inverts the traditional understanding of one and many. Instead of merely recognizing many different yet similar entities, we perceive a single phenomenon expressing itself in various ways. This leads us to the idea of "multiplicity in unity," where a living source reveals its diverse potential.

The Logic of Wholeness

To fully appreciate this concept, we must liberate ourselves from the tendency to think in terms of solid, material entities. Just as a hologram retains its integrity even when fragmented, the unity in nature is not conventionally divisible. For instance, vegetative reproduction, such as taking cuttings from a plant, serves as an apt analogy. While new plants may appear physically distinct, they remain organically unified. This wholeness endures.

Although “multiplicity in unity” cannot be neatly mapped onto the physical realm, we can still perceive it directly. Modern physics has illuminated the limitations of sense-based representations of reality. Goethean science invites us to develop a way of seeing that transcends these constraints.

Metamorphosis and Intuition

Goethe coined the term "metamorphosis" to describe the dynamic, self-differentiating movement at the core of diverse manifestations. He expressed this not as a mental construct but as an intuitive act of perception:

"When I closed my eyes and lowered my head, I could envision a flower at the center of my visual sense. Its original form never remained the same; it unfolded, and from within, new flowers continually emerged, adorned with colored petals and green leaves."

Bortoft emphasizes the necessity of shifting from considering beings that do to focusing on doings that be. This active, self-revealing aspect of a phenomenon is what Goethe engaged with, marking a crucial departure from traditional representational theories of knowledge.

Participatory Knowing

Goethean science encourages us to transcend mere observation and engage in a deeper participation with the creative processes of nature. He stated:

"Through the contemplation of an ever-creating nature, we should aspire to worthy participation in her production… There exists a delicate empiricism that becomes utterly identical with the object, thus forming true theory. However, this enhancement of our mental faculties is characteristic of an advanced age."

In essence, he advocates for a dynamic and evolving relationship between observer and observed.

Seeing the Whole in the Part

Returning to our earlier example of plants, Goethe perceives a single organ undergoing metamorphosis into its various forms rather than a series of distinct organs. These organs then become expressions of a dynamic force, manifestations of a unified whole. Importantly, this movement originates not from separate organs but from the movement itself, encapsulating Goethe’s dynamic view of form.

Since any part of the plant embodies the entirety of its being, each organ can symbolize the whole. This deeper comprehension underlies Goethe’s profound assertion, “All is a leaf.”

From Sloths to Organisms

All of us can adopt this Goethean perspective. By thoroughly studying a plant family, we can begin to see them as diverse expressions of a single underlying form. In his exploration of sloths, Craig Holdrege demonstrates how this phenomenological approach allows us to perceive every detail of an animal as speaking to its essential nature. We transition from mere explanation to true understanding, discerning the inner logic of phenomena rather than imposing external ideas onto them.

Bortoft believed that the decline of the organism as a focal point in modern biology represented a significant loss. He advocated for a return to an organocentric viewpoint that prioritizes the organism's wholeness over a reductionist, gene-centric approach. This perspective becomes increasingly vital in an age of genetic manipulation, where a mechanistic view of organisms can yield profound consequences.