When Metaphysics Meets Biology

This book explains the background and meaning of Kant’s account of the life sciences in the Critique of the Power of Judgement by reading the development of Kant’s ideas on the living since his 1763 precritical essays, in parallel with analyzing several milestones in the constitution of the concept...

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Tác giả chính: Huneman, Philippe
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Được phát hành: Taylor & Francis 2026
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author Huneman, Philippe
author_browse Huneman, Philippe
author_facet Huneman, Philippe
author_sort Huneman, Philippe
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This book explains the background and meaning of Kant’s account of the life sciences in the Critique of the Power of Judgement by reading the development of Kant’s ideas on the living since his 1763 precritical essays, in parallel with analyzing several milestones in the constitution of the concept of organism as a self-organized totality, studied by biology. This parallel reading frames Kant’s account of biology against influential theories developed by earlier scientists and naturalists, including Leibniz, Stahl, French vitalists, Albrecht von Haller, Caspar Wolff, and Buffon, as well as his almost contemporaries such as Goethe and Cuvier. It reveals that Kant’s inquiry about teleological judgment ties in with important advances in his time about the organism as an integrated, functioning, and self-organizing entity. It explains how Kant’s idea of purposiveness , formulated in the context of a metaphysical inquiry about the order of the world and its knowledge, hence of contingency generaliter , became detached from the notion of intention, thus ascribing it a new meaning tied to autonomous biological practice. Then, considering 19th-century biologists, it provides the genealogy of a post-Darwinian theoretical space in which biologists formulate complementary or competing accounts of organisms as developmental systems in evolution and within which theoretical cleavages are generated. It thereby explains how the two theoretical trends known as form-centered and function-centered biology, now defined as “developmental” and “adaptationist“ viewpoints, emerged as two distinct perspectives from a concept of “natural purposiveness” unified by Kant’s transcendental perspective; then it unravels the way they currently articulate, against the background of their genesis. When Metaphysics Meets Biology offers a philosophical interpretation of the emergence of biology in relation to Kant’s thinking and sheds light on the philosophical issues currently embedded within the conceptual structure of biology. It is of interest to philosophers of biology and philosophers interested in metaphysics and its history. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1773382026-06-10T05:08:24Z When Metaphysics Meets Biology Huneman, Philippe Living realm Teleological biology Transcendental philosophy Self-organization theory Anatomy Natural philosophy Animal economy Epigenesis models Philippe Huneman Critical philosophy science Immanuel Kant Philosophy of biology Purposiveness in nature Organism concept historical development Natural science Philosophy of science Evolutionary biology Mechanism Vital forces Organisms Purposiveness Species Critique of Judgment Teleology Morphology Epigenesis thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDA Philosophy of science thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHM Western philosophy: Enlightenment thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTJ Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WN Nature and the natural world: general interest::WNW The Earth: natural history: general interest thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHR Western philosophy from c 1800 This book explains the background and meaning of Kant’s account of the life sciences in the Critique of the Power of Judgement by reading the development of Kant’s ideas on the living since his 1763 precritical essays, in parallel with analyzing several milestones in the constitution of the concept of organism as a self-organized totality, studied by biology. This parallel reading frames Kant’s account of biology against influential theories developed by earlier scientists and naturalists, including Leibniz, Stahl, French vitalists, Albrecht von Haller, Caspar Wolff, and Buffon, as well as his almost contemporaries such as Goethe and Cuvier. It reveals that Kant’s inquiry about teleological judgment ties in with important advances in his time about the organism as an integrated, functioning, and self-organizing entity. It explains how Kant’s idea of purposiveness , formulated in the context of a metaphysical inquiry about the order of the world and its knowledge, hence of contingency generaliter , became detached from the notion of intention, thus ascribing it a new meaning tied to autonomous biological practice. Then, considering 19th-century biologists, it provides the genealogy of a post-Darwinian theoretical space in which biologists formulate complementary or competing accounts of organisms as developmental systems in evolution and within which theoretical cleavages are generated. It thereby explains how the two theoretical trends known as form-centered and function-centered biology, now defined as “developmental” and “adaptationist“ viewpoints, emerged as two distinct perspectives from a concept of “natural purposiveness” unified by Kant’s transcendental perspective; then it unravels the way they currently articulate, against the background of their genesis. When Metaphysics Meets Biology offers a philosophical interpretation of the emergence of biology in relation to Kant’s thinking and sheds light on the philosophical issues currently embedded within the conceptual structure of biology. It is of interest to philosophers of biology and philosophers interested in metaphysics and its history. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license. 2026-06-10T05:08:24Z 2026-06-10T05:08:24Z 2026-06-09T08:33:42Z book book ONIX_20260415T184307_9780429947650_21 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/114080 9780429947650 9780429947643 9780429947636 9780429488016 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/177338 eng Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Science open access Taylor & Francis Routledge 10.4324/9780429488016 10.4324/9780429488016 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 9780429947650 9780429947643 9780429947636 9780429488016 Routledge 562 Oxford open access
spellingShingle Living realm
Teleological biology
Transcendental philosophy
Self-organization theory
Anatomy
Natural philosophy
Animal economy
Epigenesis models
Philippe Huneman
Critical philosophy science
Immanuel Kant
Philosophy of biology
Purposiveness in nature
Organism concept historical development
Natural science
Philosophy of science
Evolutionary biology
Mechanism
Vital forces
Organisms
Purposiveness
Species
Critique of Judgment
Teleology
Morphology
Epigenesis
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDA Philosophy of science
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHM Western philosophy: Enlightenment
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTJ Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WN Nature and the natural world: general interest::WNW The Earth: natural history: general interest
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHR Western philosophy from c 1800
Huneman, Philippe
When Metaphysics Meets Biology
title When Metaphysics Meets Biology
title_full When Metaphysics Meets Biology
title_fullStr When Metaphysics Meets Biology
title_full_unstemmed When Metaphysics Meets Biology
title_short When Metaphysics Meets Biology
title_sort when metaphysics meets biology
topic Living realm
Teleological biology
Transcendental philosophy
Self-organization theory
Anatomy
Natural philosophy
Animal economy
Epigenesis models
Philippe Huneman
Critical philosophy science
Immanuel Kant
Philosophy of biology
Purposiveness in nature
Organism concept historical development
Natural science
Philosophy of science
Evolutionary biology
Mechanism
Vital forces
Organisms
Purposiveness
Species
Critique of Judgment
Teleology
Morphology
Epigenesis
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDA Philosophy of science
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHM Western philosophy: Enlightenment
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTJ Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WN Nature and the natural world: general interest::WNW The Earth: natural history: general interest
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHR Western philosophy from c 1800
topic_facet Living realm
Teleological biology
Transcendental philosophy
Self-organization theory
Anatomy
Natural philosophy
Animal economy
Epigenesis models
Philippe Huneman
Critical philosophy science
Immanuel Kant
Philosophy of biology
Purposiveness in nature
Organism concept historical development
Natural science
Philosophy of science
Evolutionary biology
Mechanism
Vital forces
Organisms
Purposiveness
Species
Critique of Judgment
Teleology
Morphology
Epigenesis
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDA Philosophy of science
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHM Western philosophy: Enlightenment
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTJ Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WN Nature and the natural world: general interest::WNW The Earth: natural history: general interest
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHR Western philosophy from c 1800
url ONIX_20260415T184307_9780429947650_21
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