Epigenetic Theories: Caspar Friedrich Wolff and Immanuel Kant

Goy, Ina

doi:10.1515/9783110225792.43

Cited by 47 publications

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“…Roughly, vitalism is the idea that living things cannot be wholly understood in physicochemical terms, such that any purely mechanical analysis of a biological thing is bound to leave something out (Lovejoy 1911 ). For example, the embryologist Caspar Friedrich Wolff (1734–1794) thought it was impossible to explain embryogenesis without recourse to an organizing force ( vis essentialis ), which is “the initiating power of all processes of generation in organic beings” (Goy 2014 , p. 45). Similarly, Hans Driesch, working around the turn of the 20th century, appealed to the notion of entelechy to explain the apparently goal-directed nature of developmental processes (Driesch 1908 ).…”

Section: A Little History Of Teleological Thinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teleonomy: Revisiting a Proposed Conceptual Replacement for Teleology

Dresow

Love

2023

Biol Theory

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The concept of teleonomy has been attracting renewed attention recently. This is based on the idea that teleonomy provides a useful conceptual replacement for teleology, and even that it constitutes an indispensable resource for thinking biologically about purposes. However, both these claims are open to question. We review the history of teleological thinking from Greek antiquity to the modern period to illuminate the tensions and ambiguities that emerged when forms of teleological reasoning interacted with major developments in biological thought. This sets the stage for an examination of Pittendrigh’s (Adaptation, natural selection, and behavior. In: Roe A, Simpson GG (eds) Behavior and evolution. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp 390–416, 1958) introduction of “teleonomy” and its early uptake in the work of prominent biologists. We then explore why teleonomy subsequently foundered and consider whether the term may yet have significance for discussions of goal-directedness in evolutionary biology and philosophy of science. This involves clarifying the relationship between teleonomy and teleological explanation, as well as asking how the concept of teleonomy impinges on research at the frontiers of evolutionary theory.

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Section: A Little History Of Teleological Thinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teleonomy: Revisiting a Proposed Conceptual Replacement for Teleology

Dresow

Love

2023

Biol Theory

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“…Goy's account covers familiar terrain, and yet is comprehensive and extremely helpful in understanding the motivation behind Kant's theory. Her argument that Kant's notion of the 'formative power' or Bildungsteib is taken not simply from Blumenbach but also from Wolff is compelling, developing a richer account than that begun in Goy (2014).…”

Section: A Historical Classificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kants Theorie der Biologie: Ein Kommentar. Eine Lesart. Eine Historische Einordnung

Cooper

2017

British Journal for the History of Philosophy

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“… 12 Insightful discussions of Wolff’s theories have been provided by Duchesneau ( 1982 ), Gaissinovitch ( 1990 ), Mocek ( 1995 ), Müller ( 1984 ), Roe ( 1979 , 1981 ), Jahn ( 1998 –1999), Detlefsen ( 2006 ), Goy ( 2014 ), and Zammito ( 2018 , 2019 ). Since we assess the impact of the ideal of axiomatic science on Wolff’s biology, we will mainly focus our attention on the interpretations of Roe ( 1979 ), Detlefsen ( 2006 ), and Zammito ( 2018 ), which also deal with this topic.…”

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confidence: 99%

Axiomatic Natural Philosophy and the Emergence of Biology as a Science

Berg

Demarest

2020

J Hist Biol

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Ernst Mayr argued that the emergence of biology as a special science in the early nineteenth century was possible due to the demise of the mathematical model of science and its insistence on demonstrative knowledge. More recently, John Zammito has claimed that the rise of biology as a special science was due to a distinctive experimental, anti-metaphysical, anti-mathematical, and anti-rationalist strand of thought coming from outside of Germany. In this paper we argue that this narrative neglects the important role played by the mathematical and axiomatic model of science in the emergence of biology as a special science. We show that several major actors involved in the emergence of biology as a science in Germany were working with an axiomatic conception of science that goes back at least to Aristotle and was popular in mid-eighteenth-century German academic circles due to its endorsement by Christian Wolff. More specifically, we show that at least two major contributors to the emergence of biology in Germany—Caspar Friedrich Wolff and Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus—sought to provide a conception of the new science of life that satisfies the criteria of a traditional axiomatic ideal of science. Both C.F. Wolff and Treviranus took over strong commitments to the axiomatic model of science from major philosophers of their time, Christian Wolff and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, respectively. The ideal of biology as an axiomatic science with specific biological fundamental concepts and principles thus played a role in the emergence of biology as a special science.

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Epigenetic Theories: Caspar Friedrich Wolff and Immanuel Kant

Cited by 47 publications

References 0 publications

Teleonomy: Revisiting a Proposed Conceptual Replacement for Teleology

Teleonomy: Revisiting a Proposed Conceptual Replacement for Teleology

Kants Theorie der Biologie: Ein Kommentar. Eine Lesart. Eine Historische Einordnung

Axiomatic Natural Philosophy and the Emergence of Biology as a Science

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