Dean's Lecture Series: John Cornell on Goethe
Published 2022-11-18
A Lecture by John Cornell, Tutor, St. John’s College, Santa Fe
Goethe’s character Faust – based on the medieval legend about a man who makes a pact with the Devil -- is an archetype of the Western soul. Dissatisfied with life, Faust pursues the most intense adventures while remaining blind to the destruction he leaves in his path. But Goethe understood Faustian striving not just as a human affair but as characteristic of all living things. The theme runs through his extensive scientific writings, in particular, his accounts of the metamorphosis of plants and of the evolution of animals, including man. This talk will consider some of the poet-naturalist’s essays and the light they throw upon modern methods in biology.
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