Gottfried Benn´s “brains” novella from 1916: implications for the philosophy of mind

TL;DR

This article analyzes a 1916 novella by German physician-poet Gottfried Benn, exploring its philosophical implications about the mind and brain.

Contribution

The paper introduces Benn's lesser-known novella 'Brains' to an English-speaking audience and examines its philosophical themes.

Findings

Benn's novella explores the search for the soul in brain matter, leading to psychological instability.

The work reflects Benn's medical background and his philosophical engagement with mind-body issues.

The article highlights Benn's relevance to the philosophy of mind through his literary and medical contributions.

Abstract

Gottfried Benn (1886–1956) was a major 20th-century German physician-poet and essayist. He successfully completed his medical studies and worked across several hospitals and disciplines, including pathology, performing many autopsies. Later in life, Benn ran his own practice to treat skin and venereal diseases in Berlin for many years. Benn is not well-known in English-speaking countries and only a few of his poems have been translated into English so far. One possible reason for this may have been his initial enthusiasm for National Socialism (as documented in essays, see below), which led to a break with other authors of his generation who had to emigrate. His novella collection "Gehirne" (Brains), published in 1918, was a significant contribution to expressionist short prose. In this work, Dr. Rönne (Benn's alter ego) searches in vain for the soul and personality in the brain matter. This leads to increasing psychological instability and depression, and Rönne can no longer carry out his medical work. The purpose of this article is to familiarize the interested reader with Benn's biography and to analyze the novella in more detail, especially in terms of the concepts of the mind’s philosophy.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13010-025-00165-3.

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