Phenomenology, in the sense used on these pages, is the patient study of what shows itself to the senses: the curve of a skull, the way an animal moves, the colour of a leaf in shade and in sun. It is also called Goethean science, after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who studied plants, bones and colours in this way. The English section covers observing, phenomenology, the twelve senses, the basic exercises described by Rudolf Steiner, the threefold structure of the human being and of animals, and embryology seen from an anthroposophical point of view.
The starting point for phenomenology is observing. The pages on observing discuss how to observe, how observations can be made richer, what matters most while observing and where the limits of an observer lie. The pages on phenomenology describe seven ways of observing that lead towards the core of a subject and, from there, to individual actions. Both contain many exercises. The pages on the twelve senses treat all twelve, give examples of their activity and add exercises of their own.
Further exercises are found in the six basic exercises of Rudolf Steiner. In the anthroposophical tradition they are presented as simple exercises that can enrich ordinary life.
One page describes the threefoldness of the human being, and several more apply the same threefold view to mammals, from the dog and the cat to the ungulates.
The embryology pages first describe the development of the plant and of a simple animal. These illuminate the anthroposophical concepts of plant and animal. After that comes the development of the human being during the first eight weeks, shown in many drawings.
These English pages form part of a larger Dutch site. The Dutch introduction page lists all its subjects.
What phenomenology looks for
Ordinary science usually explains a phenomenon by looking behind it: a colour is traced to a wavelength, a shape to a gene, a behaviour to a hormone. Phenomenology stays with the phenomenon a little longer. It asks what the thing itself shows when it is looked at carefully and from several sides, and how its features hang together. The explanation is not rejected. It is simply postponed until the observation is complete.
Goethe worked this way in his study of the metamorphosis of plants, published in 1790, where he followed how the leaves of one plant change shape from the base of the stem to the flower. He did the same with colours, which he described as arising where light and darkness meet. Neither study replaces physics or genetics. What they add is a trained eye for form, for transitions and for the relation between a part and the whole.
On these pages the same attitude is applied to animals and to the human embryo. A cat and a dog, a horse and a pig, or an egg cell and a sperm cell are compared feature by feature, and the differences are read as polarities. The aim is a picture in which size, shape, movement, behaviour and habitat of an organism are seen as expressions of one coherent character, rather than a loose list of traits.
From the elements to the ethers
The seven ways of observing are arranged as a path. It begins with concrete, countable observations, which the method links to the element earth. It continues with movement and change (water), with dynamic experience and gesture (air), and with the search for the core of a subject (warmth). Each step moves further from the outside of the object towards the inner experience of the observer.
After warmth the direction turns outward again. The observer then asks how the environment has shaped the object in space, in time and in its course of life. For this second half the approach draws on the concept of the ethers, which the anthroposophical tradition describes as formative forces working from the periphery. The page on the four ethers sets out warmth, light, chemical or tone ether and life ether, and the page on warmth as a way of observing describes the meditative attitude that belongs to it. These are presented as the method of a tradition, not as physical findings.
The twelve senses
The usual list of five senses is too short for this way of looking. Following Rudolf Steiner, the anthroposophical tradition counts twelve: touch, life, movement, balance, smell, taste, sight, temperature, hearing, the sense of speech or word, the sense of thought and the sense of the other person's self. The first four are directed mainly at the body, the middle four at the surrounding world, and the last four at other people.
Several of these have a clear physiological basis. The sense of movement corresponds to what physiology calls proprioception, the information from muscles, tendons and joints about the position of the limbs. The sense of balance is carried by the vestibular organ in the inner ear. Others, such as the sense of life, describe the general feeling of well-being or discomfort in the body. The pages on the sense of sight and on the other senses describe each in turn, with examples from daily life.
Threefoldness in the human being and in animals
The threefold view of the human being starts from the skeleton. The round skull, the radiating limbs and the rhythmic chest with its ribs and spine form three distinct regions. The anthroposophical tradition links them to three functional systems: the nerve-sense system in the head, the rhythmic system of heart and lungs in the chest, and the metabolic-limb system of digestion and movement. It links these in turn to thinking, feeling and willing. The page on the threefold human being works this out with tables.
The same scheme is then used to compare mammals. In the work of Wolfgang Schad, rodents such as the mouse are read as animals in which the nerve-sense pole is emphasised, carnivores such as the lion and the cat as animals of the rhythmic middle, and ungulates such as the cow and the horse as animals in which the metabolic-limb pole dominates. Body size, teeth, the length of the gut and the way an animal rests or flees all become part of this reading. The page mouse, lion and cow sets out the three types, and the comparison of horse, pig and cow applies the view within the ungulates.
Embryology as a study of gesture
Human embryology describes how one fertilised egg cell becomes a body with organs, limbs and a face within about eight weeks. The facts are those of any textbook: cell division in the first week, implantation in the second, the formation of three germ layers in the third, and the folding of the embryo and the first heartbeat in the fourth. The embryology pages describe these steps with drawings. Each of the first four weeks has a page of its own, preceded by pages on the egg cell, the sperm cell and conception.
What the phenomenological reading adds is attention to the gesture of each stage. The egg cell and the sperm cell are compared as a sphere and a radius, the first week as a time of floating without attachment, the second week as growing out into a new shelter. The Dutch embryologist Jaap van der Wal developed this dynamic view of embryology. The introduction to embryology explains how these images of the early embryo are built up.
An example: the point and the circle
A short example shows how the method works in practice. Seen as a whole, a cat can be compared with a point and a dog with a circle. The cat is the point because it lies next to the stove, in the centre of the room. That is how it behaves: keeping to itself and keeping control. What it does comes from within, and it is known as an obstinate, individual animal. In the point there is rest; everything comes to a halt and it is closed to the outside.
The dog is the circle, guarding the boundaries of house and yard. In the circle there is movement and activity. It is open to its surroundings, and so is the dog, which learns easily and can be educated and trained. What a dog does is mostly a reaction to what comes from outside.
The comparison is not meant as a definition. It gathers many separate observations, from posture and body shape to hunting style and the way each animal relates to people, into one image that can be checked against the animals themselves. Cats have rounder heads and bodies, dogs longer and more stretched shapes, which fits the same picture.
What the approach does and does not claim
A phenomenological description is a way of looking. It can make an observer notice things that a quick glance misses, such as the link between the rounded body of a cat and its habit of lying still in the warmest spot. It does not prove that such a link has a single cause, and it does not replace anatomy, physiology or genetics.
The esoteric parts of these pages, such as the ethers, the threefold human being and the basic exercises, are described as the views of the anthroposophical tradition. Readers can compare them with their own observations. The biological facts on the pages, from bone counts to the stages of the embryo, follow standard biology.
Further reading
Questions
What is phenomenology in the Goethean sense?
It is the careful study of what a phenomenon shows to the senses before any explanation is sought. The name Goethean science refers to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who studied plants, bones and colours in this way. The emphasis lies on form, transitions and the relation between the parts and the whole.
Why does phenomenology start with observing?
Every later step builds on what has actually been perceived. If the observations are poor or one-sided, the image of the whole will be too. For that reason the method first trains how to observe, how to enrich observations and how to recognise the limits of an observer.
What are the seven ways of observing?
They form a path from concrete, countable observations through movement, gesture and the search for the core of a subject, and then outward again to the influence of the environment. The first steps are linked to the elements earth, water, air and warmth, the later ones to the ethers. See the four ethers.
How many senses does the anthroposophical tradition count?
Following Rudolf Steiner it counts twelve: touch, life, movement, balance, smell, taste, sight, temperature, hearing, the sense of speech, the sense of thought and the sense of the other person's self. Some of these, such as balance and movement, match organs and systems described in physiology.
What are Rudolf Steiner's basic exercises?
They are six exercises for thinking, feeling and willing: control of thought, control of will, equanimity, positivity, open-mindedness and inner harmony. In the anthroposophical tradition they are practised alongside meditation. See the six basic exercises.
What does threefoldness mean?
It is the view that the human body has three functional systems: the nerve-sense system in the head, the rhythmic system of heart and lungs, and the metabolic-limb system. The anthroposophical tradition links them to thinking, feeling and willing.
How is threefoldness applied to mammals?
Following Wolfgang Schad, rodents are read as nerve-sense animals, carnivores as animals of the rhythmic middle and ungulates as metabolic-limb animals. The page mouse, lion and cow compares the three types.
Why is a cat compared with a point and a dog with a circle?
The cat keeps to the centre, lies still near the stove and acts from within, which is summed up in the image of a point. The dog guards the boundaries, is open to its surroundings and reacts to what comes from outside, which fits the image of a circle.
What do the embryology pages cover?
They describe the development of a plant and of a simple animal, then the egg cell, the sperm cell, conception and the first four weeks of the human embryo. The facts follow standard embryology, and the phenomenological reading looks at the gesture of each stage.
Is phenomenology a replacement for biology?
No. It is a way of looking that can sharpen perception and show how features of an organism hang together. It does not prove causes and does not replace anatomy, physiology or genetics.