Eighteenth-century vitalism

Eighteenth-Century Vitalism was published in 2012 by Palgrave Macmillan as part of the Palgrave Studies in the Enlightenment, Romanticism and the Cultures of Print series. The work emerged from a broader academic shift toward re-examining the intersections of biology, philosophy, and literature during the long eighteenth century. Catherine Packham sought to challenge traditional narratives that relegated vitalism—the theory that living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities due to a life force—to a fringe or purely mystical pursuit, positioning it instead as a rigorous and influential scientific and philosophical framework of the era.

Packham, a scholar specializing in Enlightenment literature, designed this study to bridge the gap between scientific discourse and aesthetic theory. Her analysis explores how vitalist concepts permeated the writing of figures such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Erasmus Darwin, and others, arguing that these ideas were central to Enlightenment notions of sensibility and social progress. The book was received as a significant contribution to the field of history of science and literary studies, praised for its dense theoretical engagement and its ability to reframe the intellectual history of the eighteenth century.