Lorenz, Konrad (1903–89)

Abstract

Konrad Lorenz, cofounder of ethology (the study of the biology of organism behavior), ranks among the most important stewards of Darwin's heritage. A stern critic of the vitalistic concept of instinct and of the behaviorists' doctrines of the ‘empty organism’ that is predominantly environmentally controlled, Lorenz advocated a bottom-up analysis of behavior, stressing the importance of observation and inductive reasoning. This led to the discovery of a basically modular structure of behavior including ‘fixed action patterns’ controlled by internal variables and external ‘key stimuli’ coordinated by specific ‘innate releasing mechanisms.’ Learning occurs on these modular levels, e.g., as in ‘imprinting.’ Lorenz became one of the founding directors of the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology (Seewiesen), the leading institution for behavioral research in Germany. Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen, and Karl von Frisch shared the 1973 Nobel Prize for Medicine ‘for their discoveries concerning the organization and elicitation of individual and social behavior patterns.’ After his retirement, Lorenz returned to his native Austria, continued his work on graylag goose's social behavior and in evolutionary epistemology, and became an influential opponent of nuclear power and environmental degradation.