Romantic Science and the Experience of Self

This work constructs a 20th-century tradition of romantic science by suggesting points of interconnection in the work of five key figures in transatlantic intellectual history: American philosopher and psychologiest, William James; Austrian psychoanalyst, Otto Rank; Swiss psychiatrist, Ludwig Binswanger; Danish/German psychologist, Erik Erikson; and British neurologist, Oliver Sacks. Each of these romantic scientists has a practical and theoretical interest in the experience of individuals: with the object of empirical observation being replaced by the living subject of phenomenological study. The book demonstrates that romantic science is essentially an experimental and humanistic tradition, which responds to the modern condition by attempting to reconnect the narrow sphere of clinical observation with the broader realities of lived experience. Stimulated by debates over rival models of consciousness and a renewed interest in theories of the self, the book argues that in their challenge to Freud's adoption of ideas from 19th-century natural science, these thinkers have enlarged the possibilities of romantic science for bridging the perceived gulf between the arts and sciences.

First published in 1999, this engaging interdisciplinary study of romantic science focuses on the work of five influential figures in twentieth-century transatlantic intellectual history. In this book, Martin Halliwell constructs an innovative tradition of romantic science by indicating points of theoretical and historical intersection in the thought of William James (American philosopher); Otto Rank (Austrian psychoanalyst); Ludwig Binswanger (Swiss psychiatrist); Erik Erikson (Danish/German psychologist); and Oliver Sacks (British neurologist). Beginning with the ferment of intellectual activity in late eighteenth-century German Romanticism, Halliwell argues that only with William James’ theory of pragmatism early in the twentieth century did romantic science become a viable counter-tradition to strictly empirical science. Stimulated by debates over rival models of consciousness and renewed interest in theories of the self, Halliwell reveals that in their challenge to Freud’s adoption of ideas from nineteenth-century natural science, these thinkers have enlarged the possibilities of romantic science for bridging the perceived gulf between the arts and sciences.