Müller, geboren in Koblenz,
volgde in die plaats het gymnasium. Hij ging medicijnen studeren aan
de Universiteit van Bonn, waar hij in 1822 promoveerde. Hij trok
daarna naar de Universiteit van Berlijn om de colleges van Karl
Asmund Rudolphi te volgen. In 1824 begon hij zich te specialiseren in
fysiologie en vergelijkende anatomie. Van 1833 tot 1840 gaf hij het
Handbuch der Physiologie uit, dat een groot succes werd. In
1854 kreeg hij voor zijn belangrijke wetenschappelijke prestaties de
Copley Medal van het Royal Society of London. [cf. wiki]
Zijn panpsychisme
"Müller’s Handbuch der Physiologie contains an extensive section on the soul (II, 505–588). This emphasis is understandable, in the light of his initial adherence to the ideas of Naturphilosophie. Starting from the philosophy and psychology of Aristotle, Giordano Bruno, Spinoza, Schelling, Hegel, and especially Herbart, he approached the questions of the identity of the psychic principle and the vital principle, the divisibility of the soul, and the seat of the soul. He arrived at the following alternative: The soul, which utilizes the organization of the brain in its activity, is either foreign to the physical body, not a force of organic nature, and only temporarily united with the body; or else it is inherent in all matter, a force of matter itself. Müller appears to have inclined more to the panpsychic conception when he wrote:
The relationship of the psychic forces to matter differs from that of other physical forces to matter solely because the spiritual forces appear only in organic and especially animal bodies, [whereas] the general physical forces, which are also called imponderables [light, electricity], are much more commonly active and widespread in nature. Since, however, the organic bodies take root in inorganic nature and draw their nourishment from it, … it remains uncertain whether or not the rudiments [Anlage] of psychic activities, like the common physical forces, is present in all matter and attains expression in a definite manner through the existing structures [brain and nervous system] [Handbuch, II, 553]."
[Uit de Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography cf.]
Gedurende de 19e jaarlijkse
bijeenkomst van de International Society for the History of the
Neurosciences die van 30 juni tot 5 juli 2014 in het Palais des
Académies in Brussel wordt gehouden zal Filip Buyse spreken over
"Müller, Spinoza and Descartes: The Affections of the Body."
