Abstract

This chapter will deal with one of Adolf Portmann’s most characteristic topics – the aesthetic dimension of nature. Throughout his work, Portmann constantly draws attention to our inability to explain the richness and beauty of living forms solely through their functionality, usefulness, and fitness, as neo-Darwinism does. However, the neo-Darwinian interpretation of aesthetic phenomena in nature is very different from Darwin’s own thinking about the realm of organismal beauty. This chapter analyses Portmann’s arguments in this area as well as some parallels to Darwin’s while also analysing some misunderstandings, some of which were rooted in contemporary science. In some respects, Darwin was even more radical than Portmann, compared to neo-Darwinism. This chapter will show that, in the case of aesthetic phenomena in nature, there is a trilateral discussion between Portmann, Darwinism and Darwin rather than a Portmann-Darwin opposition.