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> <p>List of Contributors</p><p></p><p>Acknowledgements</p><p></p><p>Introduction</p><p></p><ol> <br><br><p></p> <li>Cécilia Bognon-Küss & Charles T. Wolfe. <b>The idea of "philosophy of biology before biology": a methodological provocation </b> </li> <br><br> <br><br> <b></b><p>Part I. FORM AND DEVELOPMENT </p> <br><br> <br><br><p></p> <li>Stéphane Schmitt. <b>Buffon’s theories of generation and the changing dialectics of molds and molecules</b> </li> <br><br> <br><br><p></p> <li>Phillip Sloan.<b> Metaphysics and "Vital" Materialism: The Gabrielle Du Châtelet Circle and French Vitalism</b> </li> <br><br> <br><br><p></p> <li>John Zammito. <b>The Philosophical Reception of C. F. Wolff’s Epigenesis in Germany, 1770-1790: Herder, Tetens and Kant</b> </li> <br><br> <br><br> <b></b><p>Part II. ORGANISM & ORGANIZATION</p> <br><br><p></p> <li>François Duchesneau. <b>Senebier and the Advent of General Physiology</b> </li> <br><br> <br><br><p></p> <li>Tobias Cheung.<b> Organization and Process. Living Systems Between Inner and Outer Worlds: Cuvier, Hufeland, Cabanis.</b> </li> <br><br> <br><br> <br><br><p>Part III. SYSTEMS</p> <br><br><p></p> <li>Georg Toepfer.<b> Philosophy of Ecology Long Before Ecology: Kant’s Idea of an Organized System of Organized Beings</b> </li> <br><br> <br><br><p></p> <li>Ina Goy. <b>"All is leaf". Goethe's plant philosophy and poetry</b> </li> <br><br> <br><br><p></p> <li>Snait Gissis.<b> 'Biologie': Lamarck's endeavor of a science of living entities</b> </li> <br><br> </ol><p></p><p>POSTSCRIPTS</p><p></p><ol> <br><br><p></p> <li>Lynn Nyhart. <b>A Historical Proposal Around Prepositions</b> </li> <br><br> <br><br> <br><br><p></p> <li>Philippe Huneman. <b>Philosophy after Philosophy of Biology before Biology</b> </li> <br><br> </ol><p></p><p>Cécilia Bognon-Küss and Charles T. Wolfe. <b>Conclusion</b></p><p></p>