What would you like to read?Search books, authors, genres, shelves, users...
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Karl Groos (10 December 1861, in Heidelberg – 27 March 1946, in Tübingen) was a German philosopher and psychologist who proposed an evolutionary instrumentalist theory of play. His 1898 book on The Play of Animals suggested that play is a preparation for later life. Groos was full Professor of philosophy in Gießen, Basel and 1911–1929 in Tübingen. His main idea was that play is basically useful, and so it can be explained by the normal process of evolution by natural selection. When animals 'play' they are practising basic instincts, such as fighting, for survival. This is translated from the original as "pre-tuning". Despite this insight, Groos' work is seldom read today, and his connection of play with aesthetics has been termed "misguided". Another area of study was the psychology of literature, including statistical analysis.
...imitation supplements inadequate congenital variations in the direction of an instinct, and so, by keeping the creature alive, sets the trend of further variations in the same direction until the instinct is fully organized and congenital. If both of these views be true, as there seems reason to believe, then imitation holds a remarkable position in relation to intelligence and instinct. It stands midway between them and aids them both. In some functions it keeps the performance going, and so allows of its perfection as an instinct; in others it puts a stress on intelligence, and so allows the instinct to fall away, if it have no independent utility in addition to that served by the intelligence. In other words, it is through imitation that instincts both arise and decay; that is, some instincts are furthered, and some suppressed, by imitation.
...play [is] an instinct developed by natural selection ... and ... on a level with the other instincts which are developed for their utility. It is very near, in its origin and function, to the instinct of imitation, but yet they are distinct .... Its utility is, in the main, twofold: First, it enables the young animal to exercise himself beforehand in the strenuous and necessary functions of its life and so to be ready for their onset; and, second, it enables the animal by a general instinct to do many things in a playful way, and so to learn for itself much that would otherwise have to be inherited in the form of special instincts; this puts a premium on intelligence, which thus comes to replace instinct....
...play, so far from being "by play," if I may so speak, is a matter of serious moment to the creature. Play is a veritable instinct.
...imitation supplements inadequate congenital variations in the direction of an instinct, and so, by keeping the creature alive, sets the trend of further variations in the same direction until the instinct is fully organized and congenital. If both of these views be true, as there seems reason to believe, then imitation holds a remarkable position in relation to intelligence and instinct. It stands midway between them and aids them both. In some functions it keeps the performance going, and so allows of its perfection as an instinct; in others it puts a stress on intelligence, and so allows the instinct to fall away, if it have no independent utility in addition to that served by the intelligence. In other words, it is through imitation that instincts both arise and decay; that is, some instincts are furthered, and some suppressed, by imitation.
...play [is] an instinct developed by natural selection ... and ... on a level with the other instincts which are developed for their utility. It is very near, in its origin and function, to the instinct of imitation, but yet they are distinct .... Its utility is, in the main, twofold: First, it enables the young animal to exercise himself beforehand in the strenuous and necessary functions of its life and so to be ready for their onset; and, second, it enables the animal by a general instinct to do many things in a playful way, and so to learn for itself much that would otherwise have to be inherited in the form of special instincts; this puts a premium on intelligence, which thus comes to replace instinct....
