The article presents the complicateted world of German anthropology in the twenties and the thirt... more The article presents the complicateted world of German anthropology in the twenties and the thirties of the 20 th century. The Denkwelt of anthropology in this period is shown as ambiguous, without a u nifying idea where more approaches to the study of race and its political application were involved. German anthropology during the Third Reich era is as a w hole often considered to be an exemplary case of ideologically contaminated and politically exploited science. Even common textbooks dealing with the history of anthropology support such viewpoints by bonding together racial ideologies and racial anthropology. Such oversimplifying attitudes suffer from several inaccuracies. First, the development of anthropological concepts in this period is to be interpreted rather in the context of the history of scientific (in particular biological) theories than of the history of ideologies. To achieve this, we prefer the contextual rather than the more common diachronic approach for treating...
Se zvláštním pocitem čteme Uexküllovu knihu "Umwelt und Innenwelt der Tiere". Hned v úv... more Se zvláštním pocitem čteme Uexküllovu knihu "Umwelt und Innenwelt der Tiere". Hned v úvodu k druhému vydání (1921) se dozvídáme, že věda není nic jiného než suma názorů v současnosti žijícího věd-ce. Pokud jsou tyto názory předešlých vědeckých autorit zapomenuty, zamítnuty či pozměněny, potom jsou pro vědu mrtvé. Uexküll se tedy táže: "Co je vědecká pravda?" a doslova bez nadsázky odpovídá: "Omyl dneška." 2 Tento poněkud překvapující despekt se záhy vysvětlí tímto: "V biologii stále zakoušíme čerstvý dojem, který v nás všech vyvolal pád darwinismu." 3 V souladu s Rádlem a dalšími Uexküll pro-hlašuje darwinismus za mrtvou linii biologického myšlení. Frustrace ze ztráty důvěryhodnosti výsledků, které ustavičně budovala celá jed-na generace po druhou půlku 19. století, vedla biology na přelomu následujícího století k hledání nových řešení. Uexküll nachází záchran-né stéblo v podobě fyziologického bádání, které má po vzoru sta-rých časů zachovávat...
Hrdlicka's museum of man is a small university museum on Faculty of Science, Charles Universi... more Hrdlicka's museum of man is a small university museum on Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague which was designed and opened by Czech-American anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka and other scientists in 1937. This article presents revitalization project of the permanent exhibition, new concepts in our work with visitors and use of new media theories and educational theories in museum practice. Museum presents story of human evolution, human variability, ontogeny a pathology. Students of primary and high schools are used to visit our museum regularly since 1950 – museum visit is an important part of biology curriculum. The exhibition has to meet visitors expectations, satisfy their needs as well as reflect current state of scientific knowledge. --- Museum in our understanding is a part of communication process where the institution is a partner to a visitor. With regard to current museum and educational theories we are trying to design our museum as an open and creative space...
Tato kapitola se věnuje některým tradicnim vysvětlenim zakladů vnimani krajiny clověkem v ramci e... more Tato kapitola se věnuje některým tradicnim vysvětlenim zakladů vnimani krajiny clověkem v ramci evolucni biologie. Přispěvek vychazi předevsim z poznatků psychobiologie (Tooby, Cosmides, Barrett, etc.) a nabizi několik možných vysvětleni nasich zejm. estetických preferenci krajiny. Zabýva se předevsim tzv. savanna hypotezou a podrobuje ji kritice, nabizi možne lepsi přistupy v ramci evolucni biologie, resp. psychobiologie.
Pojeti estetických jevů v dile Konrada Lorenze. Navaznost na darwinisticke mysleni, ale i tradicn... more Pojeti estetických jevů v dile Konrada Lorenze. Navaznost na darwinisticke mysleni, ale i tradicni německou biologii. Spojitost krasy s užitecnosti, ale neredukovatelnost jedno na druhe. Koncepce spojujici estetickou hodnotu přirody s jeji biodiverzitou a komplexitou. Vznik uměni a lidske kultury z ritualů a hry.The study deals with the connections between the ideas of Konrad Lorenz and several themes of aesthetics. Lorenzs thinking is in the line of Darwin thought, but we can find in it the strong influence of traditional German ideas of nature. For Lorenz the beauty of objects of nature is always connected with usefulness, but not strongly determined by use. Lorenz also built his theory of aesthetic perception on Gestalt psychology. Connected to this is Lorenz`s belief about the attachment appreciation of landscape beauty. Landscape is more beautiful, when its complexity and its „health“ are on higher level - non biodiversity or too simple landscape are objects of low aesthetic va...
Creatures living under the rule of domestication form a communicative union based on shared morph... more Creatures living under the rule of domestication form a communicative union based on shared morphological, behavioural, cognitive, and immunological resemblances. Domestic animals live under particular conditions that substantially differ from the original (natural) settings of their wild relatives. Here we focus on the fact that many parallel characters have appeared in various domestic forms that had been selected for different purposes. These characters are often unique for domestic animals and do not exist in wild forms. We argue that parallel similarities appear in different groups in response to their interaction with the umwelt of a particular host. In zoosemiotic sense, the process of domestication represents a kind of interaction in which both sides are affected and eventually transformed in such a way that one is more integrated with the other than in the time of initial encounter.
The article presents the complicateted world of German anthropology in the twenties and the thirt... more The article presents the complicateted world of German anthropology in the twenties and the thirties of the 20 th century. The Denkwelt of anthropology in this period is shown as ambiguous, without a u nifying idea where more approaches to the study of race and its political application were involved. German anthropology during the Third Reich era is as a w hole often considered to be an exemplary case of ideologically contaminated and politically exploited science. Even common textbooks dealing with the history of anthropology support such viewpoints by bonding together racial ideologies and racial anthropology. Such oversimplifying attitudes suffer from several inaccuracies. First, the development of anthropological concepts in this period is to be interpreted rather in the context of the history of scientific (in particular biological) theories than of the history of ideologies. To achieve this, we prefer the contextual rather than the more common diachronic approach for treating...
Se zvláštním pocitem čteme Uexküllovu knihu "Umwelt und Innenwelt der Tiere". Hned v úv... more Se zvláštním pocitem čteme Uexküllovu knihu "Umwelt und Innenwelt der Tiere". Hned v úvodu k druhému vydání (1921) se dozvídáme, že věda není nic jiného než suma názorů v současnosti žijícího věd-ce. Pokud jsou tyto názory předešlých vědeckých autorit zapomenuty, zamítnuty či pozměněny, potom jsou pro vědu mrtvé. Uexküll se tedy táže: "Co je vědecká pravda?" a doslova bez nadsázky odpovídá: "Omyl dneška." 2 Tento poněkud překvapující despekt se záhy vysvětlí tímto: "V biologii stále zakoušíme čerstvý dojem, který v nás všech vyvolal pád darwinismu." 3 V souladu s Rádlem a dalšími Uexküll pro-hlašuje darwinismus za mrtvou linii biologického myšlení. Frustrace ze ztráty důvěryhodnosti výsledků, které ustavičně budovala celá jed-na generace po druhou půlku 19. století, vedla biology na přelomu následujícího století k hledání nových řešení. Uexküll nachází záchran-né stéblo v podobě fyziologického bádání, které má po vzoru sta-rých časů zachovávat...
Hrdlicka's museum of man is a small university museum on Faculty of Science, Charles Universi... more Hrdlicka's museum of man is a small university museum on Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague which was designed and opened by Czech-American anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka and other scientists in 1937. This article presents revitalization project of the permanent exhibition, new concepts in our work with visitors and use of new media theories and educational theories in museum practice. Museum presents story of human evolution, human variability, ontogeny a pathology. Students of primary and high schools are used to visit our museum regularly since 1950 – museum visit is an important part of biology curriculum. The exhibition has to meet visitors expectations, satisfy their needs as well as reflect current state of scientific knowledge. --- Museum in our understanding is a part of communication process where the institution is a partner to a visitor. With regard to current museum and educational theories we are trying to design our museum as an open and creative space...
Tato kapitola se věnuje některým tradicnim vysvětlenim zakladů vnimani krajiny clověkem v ramci e... more Tato kapitola se věnuje některým tradicnim vysvětlenim zakladů vnimani krajiny clověkem v ramci evolucni biologie. Přispěvek vychazi předevsim z poznatků psychobiologie (Tooby, Cosmides, Barrett, etc.) a nabizi několik možných vysvětleni nasich zejm. estetických preferenci krajiny. Zabýva se předevsim tzv. savanna hypotezou a podrobuje ji kritice, nabizi možne lepsi přistupy v ramci evolucni biologie, resp. psychobiologie.
Pojeti estetických jevů v dile Konrada Lorenze. Navaznost na darwinisticke mysleni, ale i tradicn... more Pojeti estetických jevů v dile Konrada Lorenze. Navaznost na darwinisticke mysleni, ale i tradicni německou biologii. Spojitost krasy s užitecnosti, ale neredukovatelnost jedno na druhe. Koncepce spojujici estetickou hodnotu přirody s jeji biodiverzitou a komplexitou. Vznik uměni a lidske kultury z ritualů a hry.The study deals with the connections between the ideas of Konrad Lorenz and several themes of aesthetics. Lorenzs thinking is in the line of Darwin thought, but we can find in it the strong influence of traditional German ideas of nature. For Lorenz the beauty of objects of nature is always connected with usefulness, but not strongly determined by use. Lorenz also built his theory of aesthetic perception on Gestalt psychology. Connected to this is Lorenz`s belief about the attachment appreciation of landscape beauty. Landscape is more beautiful, when its complexity and its „health“ are on higher level - non biodiversity or too simple landscape are objects of low aesthetic va...
Creatures living under the rule of domestication form a communicative union based on shared morph... more Creatures living under the rule of domestication form a communicative union based on shared morphological, behavioural, cognitive, and immunological resemblances. Domestic animals live under particular conditions that substantially differ from the original (natural) settings of their wild relatives. Here we focus on the fact that many parallel characters have appeared in various domestic forms that had been selected for different purposes. These characters are often unique for domestic animals and do not exist in wild forms. We argue that parallel similarities appear in different groups in response to their interaction with the umwelt of a particular host. In zoosemiotic sense, the process of domestication represents a kind of interaction in which both sides are affected and eventually transformed in such a way that one is more integrated with the other than in the time of initial encounter.
Uploads
Papers by Marco Stella