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The Organism
In this remarkable book by one of the great psychologists and neurologists of the early twentieth century, Kurt Goldstein presents a summation of his “holistic” theory of the human organism. In the course of his studies on brain-damaged soldiers during the First World War, Goldstein became aware of the failure of contemporary biology and medicine to genuinely understand both the impact of such injuries and the astonishing adjustments that patients made to them.
He challenged reductivist approaches that dealt with “localized” symptoms, insisting instead that an organism be analyzed in terms of the totality of its behavior and interaction with its surrounding milieu. He was especially concerned with the breakdown of organization and the failure of central cerebral controls that take place in catastrophic responses to situations such as physical or mental illness.
But Goldstein was equally attuned to the amazing powers of the organism to readjust to such devastating losses, if only by withdrawal to a more limited range of activity that it could manage by a redistribution of its reduced energies, thus reclaiming as much wholeness as new circumstances allowed.
Goldstein’s concepts in The Organism have had a major impact on philosophical and psychological thought throughout this century, as can be seen in the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Georges Canguilhem, Ernst Cassirer, Ludwig Binswanger, and Roman Jakobson, not to mention the wide-ranging field of Gestalt psychology.
He challenged reductivist approaches that dealt with “localized” symptoms, insisting instead that an organism be analyzed in terms of the totality of its behavior and interaction with its surrounding milieu. He was especially concerned with the breakdown of organization and the failure of central cerebral controls that take place in catastrophic responses to situations such as physical or mental illness.
But Goldstein was equally attuned to the amazing powers of the organism to readjust to such devastating losses, if only by withdrawal to a more limited range of activity that it could manage by a redistribution of its reduced energies, thus reclaiming as much wholeness as new circumstances allowed.
Goldstein’s concepts in The Organism have had a major impact on philosophical and psychological thought throughout this century, as can be seen in the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Georges Canguilhem, Ernst Cassirer, Ludwig Binswanger, and Roman Jakobson, not to mention the wide-ranging field of Gestalt psychology.
424 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
About the author
Kurt Goldstein
34 books11 followersKurt Goldstein (November 6, 1878 – September 19, 1965) was a German neurologist and psychiatrist who was a pioneer in modern neuropsychology. He created a holistic theory of the organism based on Gestalt theory which deeply influenced the development of Gestalt therapy. His most important book in German Der Aufbau des Organismus (1934) has been published again in English: The Organism (1995) with an introduction by Oliver Sacks.
Goldstein was co-editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology.
Kurt Goldstein was born in 1878 in Kattowitz, a city in southern Poland, into a large Jewish family. After his initial education at the gymnasium, he briefly studied philosophy at the University of Heidelberg before moving to the University of Breslau where he studied medicine. At Breslau, Goldstein studied under Carl Wernicke. In 1914 Ludwig Edinger invited Goldstein to the Senckenbergisches Neurologisches Institut at the University of Frankfurt, and after Edinger's death in 1918, Goldstein assumed the role of professor of neurology in 1923.
During World War I, Goldstein took advantage of the large number of traumatic brain injuries at the clinic and established The Institute for Research into the Consequences of Brain Injuries in close cooperation with Adhémar Gelb, a gestalt psychologist. It was here that he developed his theory of brain-mind relationships. He applied the figure-ground principle from perception to the whole organism, presuming that the whole organism serves as the ground for the individual stimulus forming the figure - thus formulating an early criticism of the simple behavioristic stimulus-response-theory.
In 1926 Fritz Perls became his assistant for a year, and Lore Posner studied gestalt psychology with Gelb. Perls and Posner married in 1930, and began developing Gestalt therapy. Goldstein's research and theory had a considerable influence on the formation of this new psychotherapy.
In 1930, Goldstein accepted a position at the University of Berlin. In 1933, the Nazis came to power and Goldstein was arrested and imprisoned in a basement. After a week, he was released on the condition that he would agree to leave the country immediately and never return.
For the next year, he lived in Amsterdam, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, and wrote his master opus, The Organism.
Goldstein emigrated to the USA in 1935 and became a citizen of the US in 1940. His wife Eva Rothmann was the daughter of Berlin neuroanatomist Max Rothmann.
Goldstein was co-editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology.
Kurt Goldstein was born in 1878 in Kattowitz, a city in southern Poland, into a large Jewish family. After his initial education at the gymnasium, he briefly studied philosophy at the University of Heidelberg before moving to the University of Breslau where he studied medicine. At Breslau, Goldstein studied under Carl Wernicke. In 1914 Ludwig Edinger invited Goldstein to the Senckenbergisches Neurologisches Institut at the University of Frankfurt, and after Edinger's death in 1918, Goldstein assumed the role of professor of neurology in 1923.
During World War I, Goldstein took advantage of the large number of traumatic brain injuries at the clinic and established The Institute for Research into the Consequences of Brain Injuries in close cooperation with Adhémar Gelb, a gestalt psychologist. It was here that he developed his theory of brain-mind relationships. He applied the figure-ground principle from perception to the whole organism, presuming that the whole organism serves as the ground for the individual stimulus forming the figure - thus formulating an early criticism of the simple behavioristic stimulus-response-theory.
In 1926 Fritz Perls became his assistant for a year, and Lore Posner studied gestalt psychology with Gelb. Perls and Posner married in 1930, and began developing Gestalt therapy. Goldstein's research and theory had a considerable influence on the formation of this new psychotherapy.
In 1930, Goldstein accepted a position at the University of Berlin. In 1933, the Nazis came to power and Goldstein was arrested and imprisoned in a basement. After a week, he was released on the condition that he would agree to leave the country immediately and never return.
For the next year, he lived in Amsterdam, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, and wrote his master opus, The Organism.
Goldstein emigrated to the USA in 1935 and became a citizen of the US in 1940. His wife Eva Rothmann was the daughter of Berlin neuroanatomist Max Rothmann.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 27, 2019
This isn't as accessible as Maslow or Rogers, but IMO it's important to understand the roots of psychotherapy if you want to understand contemporary psychotherapy. If I had to sum this book up in a few sentences, I would say this:
Goldstein was a big fan of integrating the various aspects of the individual's being into a broad, interconnected system of subsystems that all relate to one another. His holistic approach formed the roots of what we now call "self-actualization":
One of the most valuable takeaways I captured from this book was Goldstein's articulation of "spheres of immediacy". In my own words: When considering the impacts of any independent variable on life, our "dependent variable" is a continuous range that spans across space, time, and genetic proximity. By aligning our decisions across all possible spheres, we have a higher probability of ensuring that our short-sighted decisions don't negatively impact our long-term survivability.
In other words, to consider the impact of working for Company X, we can ask ourselves:
- Will I like the location?
- Will I like the location in the future?
- Will my family like the location now, and in the future?
- Will the impact of my work have a positive impact on my family?
- How about my community?
- How about my country? Other countries? My species? Life in general?
Goldstein was a big fan of integrating the various aspects of the individual's being into a broad, interconnected system of subsystems that all relate to one another. His holistic approach formed the roots of what we now call "self-actualization":
We can say that an organism is governed by the tendency to actualize, as much as possible, its individual capacities, its "nature," in the world. This nature is what we call the psychosomatic constitution, and, as far as considered during a certain phase, it is the individual pattern, the "character" that the respective constitution has attained in the course of experience. This tendency to actualize its nature, to actualize "itself," is the basic drive, the only drive by which the life of the organism is determined.
One of the most valuable takeaways I captured from this book was Goldstein's articulation of "spheres of immediacy". In my own words: When considering the impacts of any independent variable on life, our "dependent variable" is a continuous range that spans across space, time, and genetic proximity. By aligning our decisions across all possible spheres, we have a higher probability of ensuring that our short-sighted decisions don't negatively impact our long-term survivability.
In other words, to consider the impact of working for Company X, we can ask ourselves:
- Will I like the location?
- Will I like the location in the future?
- Will my family like the location now, and in the future?
- Will the impact of my work have a positive impact on my family?
- How about my community?
- How about my country? Other countries? My species? Life in general?
September 6, 2020
I think I realized only too late that this book would have provided me with a better experienced had I read it by skimming to interesting subheadings. By not doing so I arrived at the 50% mark irreversibly bored and would take no more of it, which was when some intense skimming started.
Either way it yielded some relevant insights, which I highlighted for future use. I also think I got a decent notion on why this is considered one of the philosophical basis of humanistic psychology (Goldstein himself was one of its founders, together with A. Maslow) and Gestalt psychology more specifically.
A dry dry read though.
Either way it yielded some relevant insights, which I highlighted for future use. I also think I got a decent notion on why this is considered one of the philosophical basis of humanistic psychology (Goldstein himself was one of its founders, together with A. Maslow) and Gestalt psychology more specifically.
A dry dry read though.
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December 30, 2018although Kurt Goldstein had a huge influence on neuropsychology, psychology, neurology, and psychotherapy his major work The Organism is really hard to recommend. at least without some introduction, for which I'd recommend his paper named Notes on the Development of my Concepts.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews