This essay focuses on the topic of technique in the thought of the well-known biologist, zoologist and anthropologist Adolf Portmann (1897-1982). First of all I’ll try to understand the biological and anthropological roots, that make a naturally-artificial (namely technical) being of a man. Then I’ll examine what kind of role and weight Portmann assignes to the technique, underlining risks and chances, closely linked to it, and showing the essentially expressive and self-expressive function of it. Finally I’ll specify the relationship between the development of technique in our society and the loss of the primary world: the aesthetic world of imagination .

Adolf Portmann: the expressive function of technique

Oreste Tolone
2012-01-01

Abstract

This essay focuses on the topic of technique in the thought of the well-known biologist, zoologist and anthropologist Adolf Portmann (1897-1982). First of all I’ll try to understand the biological and anthropological roots, that make a naturally-artificial (namely technical) being of a man. Then I’ll examine what kind of role and weight Portmann assignes to the technique, underlining risks and chances, closely linked to it, and showing the essentially expressive and self-expressive function of it. Finally I’ll specify the relationship between the development of technique in our society and the loss of the primary world: the aesthetic world of imagination .
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11564/762979
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