HoBi · Hegel's Philosophy of Biology

Hegel's Philosophy of Biology

The project has addressed Hegel’s philosophical stance concerning the nature of organisms, which in contemporary terms might be defined as his philosophy of biology. The topic is positioned in relation to current debates in both philosophy and biology, including those circulating in major scientific journals, asking “does evolutionary theory need a rethink?” The field of biology is currently witnessing an important transition toward less “reductionist” approaches to life that favor an “organicist” view of living systems. A central implication of this transition is reappraisal of the idea of “organism” that was displaced since the 1940s by the establishment of the modern evolutionary synthesis and the flourishing of molecular biology. In the context of this paradigm shift, reference to frameworks and concepts elaborated by authors belonging to the tradition of classical German philosophy is strikingly frequent and because of this rekindled interest in Classical German thought, extensive literature has recently been devoted to Kant’s philosophy of biology, and his Critique of the Power of Judgment is generally considered the fundamental turning point towards a non-reductionist conception of living organisms. Hegel’s work on this topic, however, remains largely unexplored. This is due to a long-lasting preconception, which originated in the nineteenth century but still reigns today, that his philosophy of nature is a merely speculative effort with no relation to empirical science. The English-speaking world’s recent “Hegel renaissance” has so far not extended to revision of this view. At present, only a few studies have examined Hegel’s philosophy of nature, few of which address his philosophy of biology directly. This German-speaking literature has focused especially on how Hegel related to the scientific context of his time. This work is valuable, but it fails to undermine the prevailing prejudice against Hegel’s philosophy of nature and to convey its relevance for the contemporary debate. The aim of the current proposal is to do precisely that. The project's principal hypothesis is that Hegel’s philosophy of biology can be understood to prefigure the philosophy of biology as it is currently defined in important ways – especially with regards to the ontological nature of biological organization, the role of teleology in biological explanation, and the relation between life and cognition. It is moreover especially relevant in the context of recent challenges to the neo-Darwinian synthesis.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union