Abstract
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.
Highlights
The emergence of the science of biology in France and Germany in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries continues to attract attention from historians and philosophers of the life sciences
We will flesh out Rockmore’s suggestion and show that Fichte and Schelling embraced the idea that a proper science should constitute a system, which means, we argue, that they were committed to the axiomatic ideal of science which they inherited from Kant
We have argued that Caspar Friedrich Wolff and Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus adopted an axiomatic ideal of science and that this ideal of science informed the early nineteenth century attempt to ground biology as an autonomous science
Summary
The emergence of the science of biology in France and Germany in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries continues to attract attention from historians and philosophers of the life sciences. Before the emergence of biology as an autonomous science, biological phenomena were, an object of scientific study; in the early modern period such studies were often not considered to yield proper science. This raises the question concerning what constitutes a “proper science” and in what ways biological phenomena came to be seen as appropriate objects of proper science. The emerging consensus (Zammito 2018) seems to be that what changed in the course of the eighteenth century is that philosophers and scientists developed causal-historical accounts of biological form On the other hand, such accounts were more thoroughly naturalist: they explained the specificity of organic forms by referring to the historical processes in nature that gave rise to these forms (see, for example, de Jager 1991; Richards 2002; Zammito 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
