Kant's Theory of Biology

by Ina Goy (Editor), Eric Watkins (Editor)

Overview

During the last twenty years, Kant's theory of biology has increasingly attracted the attention of scholars and developed into a field which is growing rapidly in importance within Kant studies. The volume presents fifteen interpretative essays written by experts working in the field, covering topics from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century biological theories, the development of the philosophy of biology in Kant's writings, the theory of organisms in Kant's Critique of the Power of Judgment, and current perspectives on the teleology of nature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783110372403
Publisher:	De Gruyter
Publication date:	08/22/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	332
File size:	730 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ina Goy, Tübingen University, Germany; Eric Watkins, University of California, San Diego, USA.

Table of Contents

Citations and Abbreviations vii

Introduction Ina Goy Eric Watkins 1

Part I Kant's Theory of Biology and Research on Nature in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

Metaphysics and Physiology in Kant's Attitude towards Theories of Preformation Mark Fisher 25

Epigenetic Theories: Caspar Friedrich Wolff and Immanuel Kant Ina Goy 43

Organisms and Metaphysics: Kant's First Herder Review Rachel Zuckert 61

Part II Kant's Theory of Biology-Commentaries on the "Critique of the Teleological Power of Judgment" and Other Writings

Teleological Judgment: Between Technique and Nature Luca Illetterati 81

Kant's Account of Biological Causation Predrag Šustar 99

Nature in General as a System of Ends Eric Watkins 117

Biological Purposiveness and Analogical Reflection Angela Breitenbach 131

Mechanical Explanation in the "Critique of the Teleological Power of Judgment" Peter McLaughlin 149

The Antinomy of Teleological Judgment: What It Is and How It Is Solved Marcel Quarfood 167

Purposiveness, Necessity, and Contingency Philippe Huneman 185

Kant's Theory of Biology and the Argument from Design Ina Goy 203

Freedom, Happiness, and Nature: Kant's Moral Teleology (CP; §§83-4, 86-7) Paul Guyer 221

The Role of the Organism in the Transcendental Philosophy of Kant's Opus postumum Ernst-Otto Onnasch 239

Part III Kant's Theory of Biology in the Present Time

Oughts without Intentions: A Kantian Approach to Biological Functions Hannah Ginsborg 259

Kant, Polanyi, and Molecular Biology Siegfried Roth 275

Bibliography 293

Index of Names 307

Index of Subjects 311

Contributors 319