Understanding purpose : Kant and the philosophy of biology / edited by Philippe Huneman.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Huneman, Philippe.

Series:

North American Kant Society studies in philosophy ; vol. 8.

North American Kant Society studies in philosophy ; vol. 8

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biology--Philosophy.

Biology.

Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1804.

Kant, Immanuel.

Physical Description:

191 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Rochester, NY : University of Rochester Press, 2007.

Summary:

Understanding Purpose is an exploration of the central concept of natural purpose (Naturzweck) in Kant's philosophy of biology. Kant's work in this area is marked by a strong teleological concern: living organisms, in his view, are qualitatively different from mechanistic devices, and as a result they cannot be understood by means of the same principles. At the same time, Kant's own use of the concept of purpose does not presuppose any theological commitments, and is merely "regulative," that is, it is employed as a sort of heuristic principle. The contributors to this volume also investigate the following key historical questions relating to Kant's philosophy of biology: how does it relate to European work in the life sciences that was done before Kant arrived on the scene? How did Kant's unique approach to the philosophy of biology in turn influence later work in this area? The issues explored in this volume are as pertinent to the history of philosophy as they are to the history of science-it is precisely the blurred boundaries between these two disciplines that allows for new perspectives on Kantianism and early nineteenth-century German biology to emerge.

Contents:

1 Pre-Kantian Revival of Epigenesis: Caspar Friedrich Wolff's De formatione intestinorum (1768-69) / Jean-Claude Dupont 37

2 Kant's Persistent Ambivalence toward Epigenesis, 1764-90 / John H. Zammito 51

3 Reflexive Judgment and Wolffian Embryology: Kant's Shift between the First and the Third Critiques / Philippe Huneman 75

4 Kant's Explanatory Natural History: Generation and Classification of Organisms in Kant's Natural Philosophy / Mark Fisher 101

5 Succession of Functions and Classifications in Post-Kantian Naturphilosophie around 1800 / Stephane Schmitt 123

6 Goethe's Use of Kant in the Erotics of Nature / Robert J. Richards 137

7 Kant and British Bioscience / Phillip R. Sloan 149.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [173]-186) and index.

ISBN:

1580462650

9781580462655

OCLC:

82367701