Ernst Cassirer, Theoretical Biology, and the Clever Hans Phenomenon

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4990253
AutoresGregory B Moynahan (University of California, Berkeley, autor de correspondencia)
Año1999
Volumen12
Número4
Páginas549-574
Fecha de publicación1999-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaScience in Context (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0269-8897 • E-ISSN: 1474-0664
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0269889700003604
OpenAlexW2008230675
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas27

The ArgumentBiology, understood in turn-of-the-century Germany to include psychology, held a central but enigmatic place in the philosopher Ernst Cassirer's work. From his earliest studies with Hermann Cohen through his long engagement with the theoretical biology of Jakob von Uexküll and Adolf Meyer-Abich, Cassirer consistently used the history and practice of biology to examine and delineate a set of characteristic tensions between the natural and cultural sciences. This paper examines Cassirer's treatment of this theme by addressing two contrasting interpretations he gave - in hisPhilosophy of Symbolic Forms(1929) and in hisEssay on Man(1944) - to the benchmark case from empirical psychology of the "talking" horse "Clever Hans." The original case involved the horse's ability to signal answers to remarkably complex questions by stamping its hooves, an ability that ultimately appeared to rest on a capacity to detect extremely minute unintentional movement cues in its auditors as it reached the appropriate answer. Due to both Cassirer's shifting description of the case within his philosophy and the case's inherent polyvalence, Cassirer's remarks provide a useful window onto the social, epistemological, and stylistic meaning of his "unified" philosophy of human culture and science

Biology · Epistemology · Sociology · Origins and Evolution of Life · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Philosophy, Science, and History