Within a framework of rigorous contextualization of knowledge, this page gathers an outline of
individuals referenced in Moshe Feldenkrais’s work. It presents a non-exhaustive and evolving list
of figures cited or mobilized in his writings. These are situated within their historical and
disciplinary context (up to the early 1980s) in order to preserve accurate interpretation and avoid
anachronistic readings.This resource serves as a reference tool aimed at clarifying the sources
and influences underlying his work.
Dans une perspective de contextualisation rigoureuse des savoirs, cette page rassemble une esquisse de personnalités mentionnées dans les travaux de Moshe Feldenkrais.
Cette base propose une liste non exhaustive, en cours d’enrichissement, des figures citées ou mobilisées dans son œuvre.
Elle les situe dans leur contexte historique et disciplinaire (jusqu’au début des années 1980) afin d’en préserver la lecture et d’en éviter les interprétations anachroniques.
Ce dispositif constitue un outil de repérage destiné à éclairer les références et les influences mobilisées dans ses travaux.
Directory/Répertoire
| Names/Noms | Dates |
| Leslie B. Arey | 1886–1988 |
| John D. Bernal | 1901–1971 |
| Henry W. Brosin | dates inconnues |
| Martin Buber | 1878–1965 |
| Andrew Carnegie | 1835–1919 |
| Jean-Martin Charcot | 1825–1893 |
| Melvin J. Cohen | 1929–1998 |
| Emile Coué | 1857–1926 |
| Marie Curie | 1867–1934 |
| Thompson D’Arcy Wentworth | 1860–1948 |
| Charles Darwin | 1809–1882 |
| Knight Dunlap | 1875–1949 |
| Richard Feynman | 1918–1988 |
| Enrico Fermi | 1901–1954 |
| Pierre Fermat | 1607–1665 |
| Camille Flammarion | 1842–1925 |
| John Farquhar Fulton | 1899–1960 |
| Sigmund Freud | 1856–1939 |
| Mahatma Gandhi | 1869–1948 |
| Carl Friedrich Gauss | 1777–1855 |
| Louis Joseph Gay-Lussac | 1778–1850 |
| James J. Gibson | 1904–1979 |
| Bernhard Grzimek | 1909–1987 |
| George Gurdjieff | 1866–1949 |
| Ward C. Halstead | 1908–1968 |
| Jacques Hadamard | 1865–1963 |
| Eugen Herrigel | 1884-1955 |
| Julian Huxley | 1887–1975 |
| William James | 1842–1910 |
| Lloyd Jeffress | 1900–1986 |
| Immanuel Kant | 1724–1804 |
| Arthur Keith | 1866–1955 |
| Heinrich Klüver | 1897–1979 |
| Wolfgang Köhler | 1887–1967 |
| Alfred Korzybski | 1879–1950 |
| Ivar Kreuger | 1880–1932 |
| Etienne Lalou | 1918-2015 |
| Karl S. Lashley | 1890–1958 |
| Wilfrid E. Le Gros Clark | 1895–1971 |
| Karen Machover | 1903–1996 |
| Rudolf Magnus | 1873-1927 |
| Warren S. McCulloch | 1898–1969 |
| Gaspard Monge | 1746–1818 |
| Robert E. Ornstein | 1942–2018 |
| Alfred Richard Orage | 1873–1934 |
| Blaise Pascal | 1623–1662 |
| Ivan Pavlov | 1849–1936 |
| Jean Piaget | 1896–1980 |
| Henri Poincaré | 1854–1912 |
| Karl Pribram | 1919–2015 |
| Jean-Jacques Rousseau | 1712–1778 |
| Edmond Rostand | 1868–1918 |
| Gilbert Ryle | 1900–1976 |
| Hans Selye | 1907–1982 |
| Paul Schilder | 1886–1940 |
| Erwin Schrödinger | 1887–1961 |
| Charles Scott Sherrington | 1857–1952 |
| Donald A. Sholl | 1903–1960 |
| Paul Sivadon | 1907–1992 |
| Stanley Smith Stevens | 1906–1973 |
| Pierre Teilhard de Chardin | 1881–1955 |
| Norbert Wiener | 1894–1964 |
| John von Neumann | 1903–1957 |
| Heinz von Foerster | 1911–2002 |
| Vero C. Wynne-Edwards | 1906–1997 |
| Max Wertheimer | 1880–1943 |
| Paul Weiss | 1898–1989 |
| Johnny Weissmuller | 1904–1984 |
| John Z. Young | 1907–1997 |
Several structuring approaches were considered for organizing this directory, including a classification by disciplinary fields (psychology, psychiatry, neurophysiology and neurology, biology, physics, mathematics and logic, philosophy, psychophysics and perception), as well as an alternative organization based on cross-cutting thematic axes.
A strictly disciplinary classification was not retained as the primary organizing principle. It is limited by the very nature of the works considered, many of which are inter- or transdisciplinary in character. Numerous referenced authors cannot be readily assigned to a single category without diminishing the scope of their contributions, as their work integrates approaches from different domains, often with a high degree of precision, while not conforming to exclusive specialization in the contemporary sense.
Among the figures referenced here are not only leading specialists in their respective domains, but also, in many instances, scholars whose work bears the mark of a broadly humanistic formation. Their intellectual trajectories extend beyond the limits of any single field and are characterized by a sustained engagement with multiple domains of knowledge, approached with both rigor and acuity.
Epistemic categories and modes of knowledge production
Could possibly adopt these types of classifications
A. Modes of knowledge production
- Producers of theoretical knowledge
- Experimental and empirical investigators
- Theorists of organization and systems
- Clinical and practical practitioners
- Intellectual and cultural figures
B. Types of intellectual activity
Scholars : producers of knowledge within recognized scientific or philosophical disciplines
Philosophers / theorists : conceptual work, epistemology, general philosophy
Researchers / experimenters : empirical and experimental work, often in laboratories or clinical settings
Practitioners / method innovators : creators of practices (physical, educational, therapeutic) or operational methods
Conceptual engineers / systems theorists : modeling, cybernetics, mathematization of reality, cross-disciplinary approaches
Cultural figures / authors / disseminators : intellectual or cultural role without formal affiliation
An other possible structuring approach for this repertoire would have been to organize it according to adapted thematic axes, as follows:
– Perception and sensory experience
visual and auditory perception, proprioception
relations between stimulus and experience
– Organization of the nervous system
neurophysiology
functional anatomy
brain function
– Movement, posture, and action
motor coordination
control of movement
mind–body relations
– Learning, behavior, and adaptation
conditioning
plasticity
behavioral organization
– Organization of living systems and systemic approaches
theoretical biology
regulation
complex systems
homeostasis
– Experimental methods and observation
experimental protocols
measurement
psychophysics
empirical approaches
– Formalization, models, and logic
mathematics
modeling
cybernetics
abstraction of processes
– Philosophical reflection on the human being
nature of mind
knowledge
mind–body unity