The Problem of Animal Generation in Early Modern Philosophy

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511498572

In this volume Smith examines the early modern science of generation, which included the study of animal conception, heredity, and fetal development. Analyzing how it influenced the contemporary treatment of traditional philosophical questions, it also demonstrates how philosophical pre-suppositions about mechanism, substance, and cause informed the interpretations offered by those conducting empirical research on animal reproduction. Composed of essays written by an international team of leading scholars, the book offers a fresh perspective on some of the basic problems in early modern philosophy. It also considers how these basic problems manifested themselves within an area of scientific inquiry that had not previously received much consideration by historians of philosophy.

"This rich volume aims at helping historians “to gain a fresh perspective on some of the basic problems of early modern philosophy,” by studying how these problems manifest themselves in discussions of animal generation.... the volume can easily be recommended to historians of early modern philosophy and experts alike."
--S a n d e r W. d e B o e r, Journal of the History of Philosophy

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi
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Contents
pp vii-x
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List of Contributors
pp xi-xiv
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Introduction
pp 1-18
- By Justin E. H. Smith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University in Montreal
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I - THE DAWNING OF A NEW ERA
pp 19-20
- By Justin E. H. Smith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University in Montreal
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1 - The Comparative Study of Animal Development: William Harvey's Aristotelianism
pp 21-46
- By James G. Lennox, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh
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2 - Monsters, Nature, and Generation from the Renaissance to the Early Modern Period: The Emergence of Medical Thought
pp 47-62
- By Annie Bitbol-Hespériès, Author Numerous publications in the history of philosophy
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II - THE CARTESIAN PROGRAM
pp 63-64
- By Justin E. H. Smith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University in Montreal
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3 - Descartes's Experimental Method and the Generation of Animals
pp 65-79
- By Vincent Aucante, Director French Cultural Center of Rome
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4 - Imagination and the Problem of Heredity in Mechanist Embryology
pp 80-100
- By Justin E. H. Smith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University in Montréal
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III - THE GASSENDIAN ALTERNATIVE
pp 101-102
- By Justin E. H. Smith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University in Montreal
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5 - The Soul as Vehicle for Genetic Information: Gassendi's Account of Inheritance
pp 103-123
- By Saul Fisher, Director Fellowship Programs for the American Council of Learned Societies
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6 - Atoms and Minds in Walter Charleton's Theory of Animal Generation
pp 124-144
- By Andreas Blank, Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, Humboldt University of Berlin
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IV - SECOND-WAVE MECHANISM AND THE RETURN OF ANIMAL SOULS, 1650–1700
pp 145-146
- By Justin E. H. Smith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University in Montreal
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7 - Animal Generation and Substance in Sennert and Leibniz
pp 147-174
- By Richard T. W. Arthur, Professor and Chair of Philosophy, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario
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8 - Spontaneous and Sexual Generation in Conway's Principles
pp 175-193
- By Deborah Boyle, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina
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9 - Malebranche on Animal Generation: Preexistence and the Microscope
pp 194-214
- By Andrew Pyle, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Bristol
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10 - Animal as Category: Bayle's “Rorarius”
pp 215-232
- By Dennis Des Chene, Professor of Philosophy, Washington University in Saint Louis
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V - BETWEEN EPIGENESIS AND PREEXISTENCE: THE DEBATE INTENSIFIES, 1700–1770
pp 233-234
- By Justin E. H. Smith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University in Montreal
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11 - Explanation and Demonstration in the Haller-Wolff Debate
pp 235-261
- By Karen Detlefsen, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania
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12 - Soul Power: Georg Ernst Stahl and the Debate on Generation
pp 262-284
- By Francesco Paolo De Ceglia, Assistant Professor of History of Science, University of Bari (Italy)
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13 - Charles Bonnet's Neo-Leibnizian Theory of Organic Bodies
pp 285-314
- By François Duchesneau, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, Université de Montréal
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VI - KANT AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES ON DEVELOPMENT AND THE PROBLEM OF ORGANIZED MATTER
pp 315-316
- By Justin E. H. Smith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy Concordia, University in Montreal
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14 - Kant's Early Views on Epigenesis: The Role of Maupertuis
pp 317-354
- By John Zammito, John Antony Weir Professor of History and Chair of the Department of German and Slavic Studies Rice University
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15 - Blumenbach and Kant on Mechanism and Teleology in Nature: The Case of the Formative Drive
pp 355-372
- By Brandon C. Look, Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of Kentucky
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VII - KANT AND THE BEGINNINGS OF EVOLUTION
pp 373-374
- By Justin E. H. Smith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University in Montreal
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16 - Kant and the Speculative Sciences of Origins
pp 375-401
- By Catherine Wilson, Currently Professor of Philosophy, Graduate Center, City University of New York
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17 - Kant and Evolution
pp 402-416
- By Michael Ruse, Lucile T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science Florida State University
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Bibliography
pp 417-446
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Index
pp 447-456
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