Karl Groos (10 December 1861, in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

– 27 March 1946, in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

) was a German

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

who proposed an evolutionary

instrumentalist A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

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 Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

and 1911–1929 in

. His main idea was that play is basically useful, and so it can be explained by the normal process of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...

. When animals 'play' they are practising basic instincts, such as fighting, for survival. This is translated from the original as "pre-tuning". Lorenz, Konrad 1970. ''Studies in animal and human behaviour''. vol 1, Methuen, London, p91. Despite this insight, Groos' work is seldom read today, and his connection of play with

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

has been termed "misguided".Fagan, Robert 1981. ''Animal play behavior''. Oxford University Press, p4. Another area of study was the psychology of literature, including statistical analysis. Among his scholars is the German philosopher

Willy Moog Willy Moog (also: Wilhelm or Willi Moog; born 22 January 1888, in Neuengronau (community of Sinntal) – 24 October 1935, in Braunschweig) was a German philosopher and educator. Life Willy Moog studied from 1906 to 1909 in Berlin, Munich and ...

(1888–1935) (doctorate on

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

supervised by Karl Groos in Gießen 1909).

Works

* ''Einleitung in die Ästhetik''. Gießen: Ricker, 1892 * ''Die Spiele der Tiere'' (Jena 1896); translated by J. Mark Baldwin a
''The Play of Animals''
(New York 1898) (3rd German ed. 1930) * ''Die Spiele der Menschen'' (Jena 1899); translated by J. Mark Baldwin a
''The Play of Man''
(New York 1901) (many editions) * ''Des Seelenleben des Kindes'' (Berlin 1904) * 1902: ''Der ästhetische Genuss''. Gießen: Ricker. * 1910: ''Die akustischen Phänomene in der Lyrik Schillers'' * 1920: ''Bismarck im eigenen Urteil'', Stuttgart 1920 * 1922: ''Das Spiel''. Jena: G. Fischer.

References

External links

* German psychologists 1861 births 1946 deaths {{Germany-psychologist-stub