-
Edition 2 (1965) Winner
Adolf Portmann
アドルフ・ポルトマン
Adolf Portmann
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1897-05-27 （Basel, Switzerland）
- Died
- 1982-06-28 （Binningen, Switzerland） age 85
- Nationality
- Swiss
- Languages
- German, French, English
Career
- Occupations
- zoologist, biologist, comparative morphologist, philosophical writer
- Active Years
- 1925-1982
- Affiliations
- University of Basel (professor), Marine biological stations in France and Germany (Banyuls-sur-Mer, Roscoff, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Helgoland)
- Influenced By
- Jakob von Uexküll, Edmund Husserl, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
- Influenced
- scholars of biosemiotics (e.g., Karel Kleisner and others), some anthropologists and philosophers
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Basel | Faculty of Science | Zoology | — | 1915–1925 | Switzerland |
University of Basel
Faculty of Science
/ Zoology
Period:
1915–1925
Year of Graduation:
1925
Country:
Switzerland
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The influence of nutrient eggs on the larval development of Buccinum and Purpura
1925 scientific paperA specialist study on the larval development of marine gastropods Buccinum and Purpura, focusing on the effect of nutritive eggs.
developmental biologymarine biology
The Ontogeny of Birds as an Evolutionary Problem
1935 scientific bookDiscusses avian ontogeny from an evolutionary perspective with emphasis on comparative morphology.
ontogenymorphologyevolution
Animal Forms and Patterns: A Study of the Appearance of Animals
1967 comparative morphology / philosophical essayMajor work discussing the meaning and aesthetic function of animal appearance, exploring relations between surface representation and interiority; influential for biosemiotics.
aesthetics of formself-representationbiosemiotics
Translations
- Animal Forms and Patterns — translations into various languages (e.g., French edition La forme animale)
New Paths in Biology
1964 scientific essaysA collection proposing new directions in theoretical biology and morphology.
theoretical biologymorphologyphilosophical reflection
Vom lebendigen (From the Living)
1973 philosophical biologyEssayistic reflections on the manifestations and meanings of life, centering on the contrast between appearance and interiority.
phenomenologymeaning of life
Bibliography
- The influence of nutrient eggs on the larval development of Buccinum and Purpura (1925)
- The Ontogeny of Birds as an Evolutionary Problem (1935)
- The Earth as the Home of Life (1954)
- Animals as Social Beings (1961)
- The central nervous system (1961)
- New Paths in Biology (1964)
- Metamorphosis in Animals: The Transformations of the Individual and the Type (1964)
- Animal Forms and Patterns: A Study of the Appearance of Animals (1967)
- Vom lebendigen (1973)
- Opisthobranchia of the Mediterranean (1982)
- Goethe and the Concept of Metamorphosis (1987)
- Essay in Philosophical Zoology: The Living Form and the Seeing Eye (1990)
- La forme animale (French edition, 2013 reprint)
Translations of Works
- La forme animale (French edition, 2013)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- academic, descriptive prosephenomenological and philosophical argumentation
- Recurring Motifs
- contrast of appearance and interiorityaesthetics of formsurface as self-representation
Legacy
Portmann developed a distinctive thought at the intersection of morphology and theoretical biology, recognizing meaning and aesthetic function in biological appearance; his ideas contributed to the development of biosemiotics and influenced anthropology, philosophy, and studies of animal behavior.
Academic Societies
- International Society for Biosemiotic Studies (as an intellectual influence in the interdisciplinary field)
Archives
- University of Basel archives (holds related materials)
Quotes
-
We must persuade ourselves that the appearances seen by our eye are the most important thing, instead of devaluing them to the level of a simple envelope which would conceal the essential.
Source: Animal Forms and Patterns (The Animal Form) (1967)
Trivia
- Born in Basel, he also conducted fieldwork at marine biology stations.
- His emphasis on the aesthetic aspects of biological form is credited with contributing to the rise of biosemiotics.