History and Theory of Vitalism 1914

Hans Driesch, a German biologist and philosopher, originally published 'The History and Theory of Vitalism' in the early 20th century, a time when the scientific community was deeply divided over the nature of life. Driesch, having famously concluded that life could not be explained by physical and chemical laws alone, sought to defend the concept of 'entelechy'—a vital force that guides organic development. This work serves as both a historical survey of pre-Darwinian vitalist thought and a formal exposition of his own experimental findings in embryology.

The 2006 Hesperides Press edition is a modern reprint of this foundational text, intended to make Driesch's challenging arguments accessible to contemporary scholars of the history of science and philosophy. While Hesperides Press frequently utilizes archival scans to restore long-out-of-print academic titles, this edition retains the original substance of Driesch's discourse. It stands as a testament to a specific era of intellectual inquiry where the boundaries between biology and metaphysics were fluid and fiercely debated.