In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

TUE VITALISM OF HANS DRIESCII I EXPOSITION T O many a modern biologist or thinker conversant with the problem of the nature of life, an examination of the neo-vitalist position is practically identified with the study of the views of Hans Driesch. Not that Driesch alone today defends the vitalistic fortifications, for those who uphold the autonomy of life are many and distinguished. Indeed, if some happy chance brings unanimous agreement one day on the true nature of life, it may well be seen that many of Driesch's contemporaries in the service of vitalism have had deeper insights and profounder explanations than his. Nonetheless it is Driesch's name that first is mentioned in every modern summary of the problem, his views first discussed, his objections given first hearing. Nor is the pre-eminence of Driesch in this field surprising. Quite literally he devoted his life to the study of the problem. As a biologist his most famous experiments have had to do with the exhaustive study of those phenomena wherein the animate differs most remarkably from the inanimate; his later work as a philosopher was concerned with putting vitalism ·on sound theoretical foundations, and with drawing out the consequences of his one central doctrine in terms of a world view. Moreover a good part of Driesch's fame is based on the fact that he was a pioneer in the attempt to study the problem experimentally; hence he is viewed by those affiicted with scientism as a" scientific " vitalist, a position which they feel that they can respect, even if they cannot agree with it.1 1 Of course Driesch's later defection to the camp of philosophers disappointed and dismayed those who contend that true and certain knowledge can only come through the " scientific method?' His metamorphosis, however, merely served to 186 THE VITALISM OF HANS DRIESCH 187 His L1FE Born October 28, 1867 in Kreuznach, Hans Driesch was the son of a wealthy merchant family. During his studies at the universities of Hamburg, Freiburg, Munich, and Jena, he showed marked interest in and aptitude for the natural sciences, especially for biology on which he concentrated his principal attention. Following his graduation Driesch embarked on a tour of the Far East, and, upon his return in 1891, went to Naples to work for the zoological station there. It was during his stay in Naples that Driesch carried through most of the experiments on which his reputation rests. Influenced by certain experiments performed by Gustav Wolff and William Roux, Driesch formulated a series of critical experiments to test the teleological orientation-static or dynamicof various organisms. To some of the more important of these we shall later have occasion to refer. The results of these experiments and Driesch's analytical interpretation of them were published in a series of works published between 1893 and 1904.2 Finally in the Gifford lecturee for 1907 and 1.908, Driesch presented his fully matured vitalistic theory and incorporated it within the body of a comprehensive logical and philosophical theory.8 strengthen the conviction that the nature of life, like other natures, is inaccessible to " scientific" knowledge, and is only a matter for "abstract speculation," a mental crime to be shunned and despised by the faithful positivist. E. g., cf. Erik Nordenskiold, The History of Biology, trans. by L. S. Eyre (N. Y.: Tudor, 1940). 2 Hans Driesch, Die Biologie als selbstandige Grundwissenscheft, 1898; Analytische Theorie der Organischen Entwichlung, 1894. In these first two works Driesch enters into the analysis of certain basic notions involved in the controversy. Having decided in 1895 that vitalism alone could explain the actions of animate things, Driesch published his first proof for vitalism in Die Lokalisation M orphegenetischer Vorgange. Ein Beweis vitalischen Geschehens, 1899, a second proof in Die organischen Regulationen, 1901, and the third in Die' Seele' als elementarer Naturfaktor , 1908. A summary of the work done thus far was published in 1904 under the title Naturbegriff und Naturteile. • Driesch, The Scientific and Philosophy of the Organism, Gifford Lectures of 1907-1908 (London: A&C Black, 1908) 2 vols. A revised second edition in one volume was issued in 1929 by the same publisher, and is...

pdf

Share