Polarity (Goethe)

Polarity is a key concept in Goethe's scientific writings.

In the explanations of the aphoristic essay Die Natur from 1828, which was wrongly attributed to him, Goethe describes the principle of polarity as one of the two great driving wheels of the material world, which is in a constant process of attraction and repulsion. The second principle is to "increase" to something higher.

Manifestations of polarity show up in the physical disciplines

as poles in magnetism ,
as yellow and blue in color theory ,
as acids and bases in chemistry ,
as plus and minus in electricity .

In the human world there is a polarity between male and female and between nature and spirit.

The philosopher Alfred Schmidt understands Goethe's categories of polarity and intensification as the "ultimate elements of all events", as primordial phenomena in Goethe's language.

Individual evidence

↑ Johann Wolfgang Goethe: Explanations of the aphoristic essay "Die Natur" zeno.org [1] (accessed on March 10, 2015).
^ Alfred Schmidt: Nature. Entry in: Goethe Manual. Volume 4/2: People, things, terms LZ. Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01447-9 , p. 776.

[1] Johann Wolfgang Goethe: Explanations of the aphoristic essay "Die Natur" zeno.org [1] (accessed on March 10, 2015).

[2] Alfred Schmidt: Nature. Entry in: Goethe Manual. Volume 4/2: People, things, terms LZ. Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01447-9 , p. 776.