Holistic Worldview
Reflections on ‘The Wholeness of Nature. Goethe’s Way of Science’, Henri Bertoft (1996)
As I sit on my back veranda I can hear the rising and falling of conversations between the neighbours
and their company and I can hear the exclamations and squeals of children. As the sound of a
soaring aeroplane engine subsides I begin to hear the ‘conversation’ between the birds, which my
presence has somewhat stimulated; I tune into the varied rhythm, tone and pitch of their song and
then I hone in on the busy, busy insects buzzing about the plants … and then the sound of the leaves
as a breeze flows between them. I follow the pattern of the leaves down their stem, which are
placed as notes in service of a symphony, to witness the humble yet all important worm, who
diligently performs its task. If I were to stop look and listen, I would notice the whole world is doing
and speaking - being. In these moments my own experience reveals that I am not merely a fly caught
in the web of life; I experience that I am the spider and the web which catches the meaning of the
world. In contemplating Goethe’s study of the phenomena of ‘Life’, as presented by Henri Bertoft in
his book, ‘The Wholeness of Nature. Goethe’s Way of Science’, one is assured that we can learn to
read the ‘parts’ of Nature as a ‘text’. “Understanding Nature as Language forms the foundation of
Goethe’s way of science.” (Bertoft, 1996 p 320) It is through human consciousness, through faculties
of intuitive thinking and imagination in response to Nature’s ‘text’ that the ‘whole’ arises, which is to
perceive Nature’s meaning.
A summary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s (1749-1842) approach to science.
Goethe perceived that all phenomena in Nature are controlled by a higher animating principle, an
‘active absence’ which is above the members and states of existence. Through thorough
investigation, (his physics based on every day observation) he learned to grasp how these ‘formative
forces’ come into form. Goethe looked for that which is ‘constant’ within change, the immutable law
of the organism that is Universal Law. Goethe’s investigations presented to him a living concept of
form and transformation, ‘life creating out of itself’, the organism’s self-determining principle Metamorphosis.
His methodology requires the mind become an ‘organ of perception’, in an act of observation ‘attentive seeing’ of phenomena. In a participatory manner one breathes in the phenomenon, so to
speak, then proceeding with ‘exact sensorial imagination’ a ‘concrete vision’ of the phenomena is
formed and one ‘sees’ the phenomenon inwardly. One must be diligent in avoiding any mental
constructs, any organisation or any ‘theory’ that one may impose; Goethe impresses upon us the
role of the ‘will’ in preventing habitual and automatic thoughts to return. In this ‘way of seeing’
phenomena the ‘facts’ become the ‘theory’. The above is repeated until that which is actively seen
then can be ‘dynamically experienced’ within oneself. In holding the phenomena within oneself, a
clear picture emerges of the relationship of its ‘parts’ to itself and to greater Nature. We enter into a
‘mutually reciprocal interpenetrating’ relationship with the phenomenon. It is the ‘Imagination’ that
has the intensity to actually perceive the ‘wholeness’ of the phenomenon and its own meaning.
In this way Goethe’s mind performed as an ‘organ of perception’, a sensory organ if you like,
allowing the phenomenon a necessary step in evolution in what was experienced by revealing its
wholeness in him. “Through the contemplation of an ever creating Nature we should make ourselves
worthy of spiritual participation in her productions”. His ability to perceive phenomena ‘dynamically’
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with ‘exact sensorial imagination’ then allowed the phenomena another step - a creative flourishing,
to be completed in him. Released from the constraints of time and place it continued to create itself,
but in the fertile soil of consciousness; it revealed itself in an ever evolving image, the plant, for
example, can take its next evolutionary steps through consciousness, through this ‘organ’ which it
does not currently possess as part of itself. Goethe saw this enhancement of mental powers as
belonging to “a highly evolved age”. What this science embraces can complete the picture of
evolution, as nature evolves through being ‘known’- through consciousness. Humanity ‘creating’ and
‘being’ alongside and in cooperation with Nature.
Goethe did not set out to discover something new, but to apply his way of ‘seeing’ to the world. He
was never opposed to quantitative science, but he saw his qualitative science as a necessary
inclusion for achieving a complete science. The human being is inherently bound to the world and
we cannot extricate ourselves from the experience. ‘Onlooker consciousness’, to which
mathematical sciences aspire, errs in imbuing Nature with dualism. Dualism is only present in the
human process of knowing. Quantitative science, which is concerned with shape, number and
motion, can reveal aspects of Nature but not Wholeness. Having said that, qualitative science,
though capturing meaning also only reveals an ‘aspect’ of nature. We require the marriage of both
analytical and intuitive consciousness in order to perceive truth. ‘Knowledge of self’, (as Goethe’s
apparatus in this science is the scientist himself) developing alongside ‘knowledge of the world’ is
Goethe’s indication for overcoming the dualism trap of the mind.
In order to understand the general resistance to what he was doing, Goethe undertook the study of
the ‘history’ of science. This pioneer work provided a key to understanding the social and political
impulses that resulted in either the acceptance or rebuttal of certain modes of scientific thinking.
We are currently facing the problem of materialism, not only dominating science, but all spheres of
human endeavour. Henri Bertoft gives Goethe’s work an extensive and intensive rendering. He
promotes Goethe’s way of science as necessary, especially in light of the current crises in Science. In
demystifying Goethe’s work, he highlights how it is one thing to be able to control and manipulate
Nature and another to experience and understand her. Science itself must become whole - analysis
and synthesis breathing in and out. The emphasis on ‘onlooker consciousness’ engenders an attitude
towards Nature which justifies experimentation, operation, dissection, destruction, mutilation and
manipulation. In Goethe’s way of doing science receiving more exposure and promotion it will be
seen for what it is - an essential component to a comprehensive view of the World. The participant,
in this ‘way of seeing’ experiences an extension of feeling and senses a connection, which is limited
in the quantitative sciences or the intellectual mode of consciousness.
Musings and Ramblings in light of the above
I begin with a provocative quote from Goethe: “the phenomena should not be imagined as being
complete until it is known.” This profound insight is also a directive for humanity in general, as it
points to our task and meaning of existence. Consciousness is as a light which allows the world to
reveal itself. The world comes to know itself through us. In beholding the phenomena in our
consciousness Nature is raised up to human consciousness. We awaken her sleeping beauty, we
break the spell, the enchantment Nature is held in. We assist her evolution. We can see the lower
kingdoms of Nature are not free in a sense, they are bound by necessity and they are bound by the
‘life’ principle - life creating out of itself, re-producing, replicating, re-creating. Human beings are
free in that we can create out of ‘nothingness’. How we respond in the world is our freedom, our
response is not bound by necessity. We add to the world our human experience of how we think,
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feel and what we do. This is simultaneously exciting and terrifying … as really all we have here is a
freedom to ‘choose’ our response. We can participate by co-creating or destroying. The human
being therefore holds great responsibility, we are not solely bound by Universal Law - hereditary,
genetics and environment; we even see the ties to rites, commandments or even common law
loosening before our very eyes. Have been given a potential to freedom? When we marry the
quantitative and qualitative intellects we perceive that the world and the universe are in a perpetual
state of becoming, of being, of doing … with this freedom we can’t help but have an impact as we
are intrinsically part of the whole and the whole is a part of us. Perhaps the only underlying principle
to ‘creating out of nothingness’ is: the right thing, in the right place, at the right time and in the right
measure. This is a moral freedom, a moral or spiritual ‘sensing’, which must be guided by love.
Now bear with me.
I have an imaginative picture of the human being as the universe turned inside out, or rather the
universe having been poured out comes to a turning point in the human. The human being as a locus
of organs which perceive, can ‘know’, conceive and then reflect in consciousness creation to its
creator. The human being as a sense organ; the sense organ of the organism which is the ‘whole’
world and simultaneously that which makes sense of the world, the intended sense - the meaning of
the world! As satellites tracking and tracing the workings - the ‘beingness’ of Nature. In tracking the
objects of Nature we can trace the steps of creation taken by its creator. For illustrative purposes
consider the following analogy of coming to a point in life when I have the idea: “I want to build a
house of my own” I then begin actively thinking and imagining, then sketching, designing and
planning, perhaps for months or years. I source materials and contractors, I begin building,
constructing, decorating, furnishing, etc. Then one day the house is finished and I am living in it.
Every chair, benchtop and cupboard, every window, door and brick, every curve, arch and angle can
be traced back to my original idea – each piece is a ‘part’ of it. The whole house is merely evidence,
the manifestation of my sketches, my imagination all the way back through to the original thought I
had of building a house. Perhaps my full vision has come to expression or perhaps I had to
compromise, adjust here and there due to budget or circumstance, regardless, here it is, the ‘idea’:
my house. Is Goethe’s way of science a way to develop our organs of perception, to ‘see’ the
phenomena of Nature as ‘ideas’? Who are the beings who had these ‘ideas’, be it the ‘idea’ of a tree
or a bird? Through apprehending the world we can come to know the ‘active absence’, the
wholeness, the ‘being-ness’, the being of the world. Can we indeed come to know spiritual beings
through developing consciousness of the whole? Can a ‘spiritual science’ develop that frees us from
the devastating paradigm of Nature as mechanistic, as machine and human beings as mere cogs
therein?
In order to come to any truth we see it requires that we become selfishly selfless in this act of
‘knowing’, getting out of our own way. This must be done in service of the whole, not just in service
to ourselves, as we have predominantly placed importance on the material and utilitarian outcomes
of our pursuits. To quote Goethe again: “Through the contemplation of an ever creating Nature we
should make ourselves worthy of spiritual participation in her productions”.
Goethe was at times surprised at the well of creativity he was allowed; this he did not squander, but
gave to humanity through his wisdom and creativity. What is most radiant about him is that he lived
through an age of revolution and struggle for independence; however, his search was for archetypal
freedom. A freedom not only of thinking but also freedom from thinking so the phenomena can
think itself through humanity’s consciousness and begin to speak. With this language of the whole
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which Goethe so joyously deciphered, we can gain meaning of our world through practice and
development. Through growth and transformation, my back veranda vista of Nature transforms into
a panoramic view of the whole world. With Goethe’s beautiful simplicity in ‘seeing’ and ‘being’ we
can participate holistically in our world, which will perhaps lead to the practice of peace, love and
understanding in our communion with Nature and each other.
Domenica Conte
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