Theory and Practice in Naturalistic Studies of Behavior Prior to Ethology's Establishment as a Scientific Discipline

Abstract

The sustained scientific study of the behavior of animals, and especially that of animals in the wild, is a relatively recent phenomenon. It has been only in the twentieth century, and then primarily in the period since the Second World War, that a significant number of biological researchers have pursued field studies of animal behavior as their primary scientific activity. The primary motives for studying animal behavior in the eighteenth century were essentially the same as those for studying natural history and science in general. The glory of God and the relief of man's estate were the two main justifications for science offered by Francis Bacon, John Ray, and other promoters of science in the seventeenth century, and in the eighteenth century these themes were voiced with even greater confidence. Despite Comte de Buffon's scorn for natural theology, the seeking of God's handiwork in nature continued to play a central role in eighteenth-century natural history.