Philosophy of Biology Before Biology

<p>The use of the term biology to refer to a unified science of life emerged around 1800 (most prominently by scientists such as Lamarck and Treviranus although scholarship has indicated its usage at least 30-40 years earlier). The interplay between philosophy and natural science has also accompanied the constitution of biology as a science.</p><p></p><p>Philosophy of Biology Before Biology examines biological and protobiological writings from the mid-eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century (from Buffon to Cuvier; Kant to Oken; and Kielmeyer) with two major sets of questions in mind: </p><p></p><ol> <br><br><p></p> <li>What were the distinctive conceptual features of the move toward biology as a science?</li> <br><br> <br><br><p></p> <li>What were the relations and differences between the philosophical focus on the nature of living entities and the scientific focus?</li> <br><br> </ol><p></p><p>This insightful volume produces a fresh but also systematic perspective both on the history of biology as a science and on the early versions of in the 1960s in a post-positivist context the philosophy of biology. It will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as history of science philosophy of science and biology.</p>