Morphology : Questions on Method and Language

Taking J.W. von Goethe’s morphological and poetic thought as matrix, this volume presents eighteen articles by contributors coming from philosophy, art history, history, mathematics, demography and architecture focusing on Goethe’s approach to science and art, to question and strengthen nowadays epistemological paradigm and contemporary aesthetics.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe has described Morphology as a science dedicated to the observation and description of everything «that is handled by chance and occasionally in other [sciences]». This meant that morphological research could be undertaken by any science or discipline as far as it considers form within its subject. This volume collects eighteen articles from scholars and contributors from philosophy, ranging from epistemology to aesthetics (with explorations into poetry, music, painting and photography), from philosophical anthropology to the philosophy of language, and from ontology to moral and political philosophy. Other contributions represent disciplines including art history, mathematics, cognitive science, linguistics, history, demography, computer science, and architecture. The wide range of areas puts to the test Goethe’s morphological thought, i.e. Goethe’s understanding of form as knowledge. Contributors: Ana Agud, Chiara Cappelletto, Dennis L. Sepper, Diana Soeiro, Diogo Seixas Lopes, Federico Vercellone, Hervé Le Bras, Javier Arnaldo, Jean Petitot, Joachim Schulte, João Constâncio, José Gil, Maria Filomena Molder, Maria João Mayer Branco, Maurizio Gribaudi, Nélio Conceição, Nuno Fonseca, Sílvio Varela Sousa.