Goy Ina
Universität Tübingen, Philosophisches Seminar, Bursagasse 1, 72070, Tübingen, Germany.
Hist Philos Life Sci. 2018 Apr 4;40(2):28. doi: 10.1007/s40656-018-0193-2.
Was Aristotle the 'father' and founder of the epigenesis doctrine? Historically, I will argue, this question must be answered with 'no'. Aristotle did not initiate and had no access to a debate that described itself in terms of 'epigenesis' and 'preformation', and thus cannot be considered the 'father' or founder of the epigenesis-preformation controversy in a literal sense. But many ancient accounts of reproduction and embryological development contain analogies to what early modern scientist called 'epigenesis' and 'preformation', and, in this analogous sense, Aristotle can be considered a precursor of the epigenesis-preformation controversy. But is Aristotle's position actually epigenetic (in this analogous sense), as most of the traditional interpreters hold, or preformationist, as some of the recent scholars believe? I will argue against the one-sidedness of both readings that Aristotle's account of reproduction and heredity contains mainly epigenetic, but also a few preformationist characteristics. Whereas, for instance, Aristotle's idea of a successive development of the embryo's parts is doubtlessly epigenetic, Aristotle's idea that the development of the embryo is an actualization and enlargement of potential parts, which are simultaneously present in the semen, can be considered a preformationist feature.
亚里士多德是渐成说的“鼻祖”和奠基人吗？从历史角度来看，我认为这个问题的答案是否定的。亚里士多德既没有发起也未曾参与一场以“渐成说”和“预成说”来描述的辩论，因此从字面意义上讲，他不能被视为渐成说与预成说之争的“鼻祖”或奠基人。但是，许多古代关于生殖和胚胎发育的记述中包含了与早期现代科学家所谓的“渐成说”和“预成说”的类比，从这个类比意义上讲，亚里士多德可被视为渐成说与预成说之争的先驱。然而，正如大多数传统诠释者所认为的那样，亚里士多德的观点实际上是渐成论的（在这个类比意义上），还是如一些近期学者所认为的那样是预成论的呢？我将反驳这两种解读的片面性，认为亚里士多德关于生殖和遗传的论述主要包含渐成论的特征，但也有一些预成论的特征。例如，亚里士多德关于胚胎各部分相继发育的观点无疑是渐成论的，而他认为胚胎发育是精液中同时存在的潜在部分的实现和扩大的观点，则可被视为一种预成论的特征。
