Article ID: CBB513490570

Theorizing epigenesis in a time of preexistence: From the end of the seventeenth century to the 1720s (2016)

unapi

According to a classic periodization in the history of science, biological thought as it emerged in France from the last decades of the seventeenth century to the 1740s was strongly committed to the doctrine of the preexistence of germs. Nicolas Malebranche’s role in disseminating this paradigm, particularly in the milieu of the Académie Royale des Sciences during the years when Bernard Le Bouyer de Fontenelle was its secretary, has been studied in detail, especially by Jacques Roger. However, much less has been said about the authors who argued against this doctrine prior to the appearance of the relevant pieces by Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, and Denis Diderot. I aim to examine a series of French medical treatises and clandestine manuscripts that outlined a mechanist theory of epigenesis, between the end of the seventeenth century and the 1720s, to bring to light the strategies—often quite original—that allowed them to achieve this result. One interesting case is the heterodox readers of Malebranche, which use some of his own arguments (notably on the physiology of brain traces and the laws of nature) both against preexistence and to support epigenesis. I inquire into the historical worth of the positions defended by these authors as well as into the connections existing between the history of epigenesis and that of materialism in the early modern era.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB513490570/

Similar Citations

Book Halleux, Robert; McClellan, James; Berariu, Daniela; Xhayet, Geneviève; (2001)
Les publications de l'Académie royale des sciences de Paris (1666-1793) (/isis/citation/CBB000101242/)

Chapter Sturdy, David J.; (2009)
The Academia del Cimento and the Académie Royale des Sciences (/isis/citation/CBB001020801/)

Article Naegel, Paul; Teissier, Pierre; (2013)
Obtaining a Royal Privilege in France for the Watt Engine, 1776--1786 (/isis/citation/CBB001252210/)

Book Adkins, Gregory Matthew; (2014)
The Idea of the Sciences in the French Enlightenment: A Reinterpretation (/isis/citation/CBB001452031/)

Book Lawrence M. Principe; (2020)
The Transmutations of Chymistry: Wilhelm Homberg and the Académie Royale des Sciences (/isis/citation/CBB109980854/)

Article Adkins, G. Matthew; (2008)
The Renaissance of Peiresc: Aubin-Louis Millin and the Postrevolutionary Republic of Letters (/isis/citation/CBB000950505/)

Article Rabinovitch, Oded; (2013)
Versailles as a Family Enterprise: The Perraults, 1660--1700 (/isis/citation/CBB001422228/)

Article Mullins, Lisa; (2009)
Newton and the Parisian Academie Royale des Sciences, 1699--1727 (/isis/citation/CBB001021575/)

Article Laboulais, Isabelle; (2006)
Les systèmes: Un enjeu épistémologique de la géographie des lumières (/isis/citation/CBB000760019/)

Article Fauque, Danielle M. E.; (2008)
An Englishman Abroad: Charles Blagden's Visit to Paris in 1783 (/isis/citation/CBB000930239/)

Authors & Contributors
Principe, Lawrence M.
Adkins, Gregory Matthew
Hye-Min Lee
Xhayet, Geneviève
Teissier, Pierre
Sturdy, David J.
Concepts
Societies; institutions; academies
Scientific communities; interprofessional relations
Chemistry
Animals
Science and culture
Mechanism; mechanical philosophy
Time Periods
18th century
17th century
Enlightenment
Places
France
England
Italy
China
Paris (France)
Great Britain
Institutions
Académie Royale des Sciences (France)
Paris. Jardin Royal des Plantes
Royal Society of London
Accademia del Cimento, Florence
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment