Ernst-Haeckel-Haus, Institute for Zoology and Evolutionary Research, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
J Hist Biol. 2022 Aug;55(2):285-320. doi: 10.1007/s10739-022-09682-9. Epub 2022 Aug 19.
This paper aims to provide a fresh historical perspective on the debates on vitalism and holism in Germany by analyzing the work of the zoologist Hans Spemann (1869-1941) in the interwar period. Following up previous historical studies, it takes the controversial question about Spemann's affinity to vitalistic approaches as a starting point. The focus is on Spemann's holistic research style, and on the shifting meanings of Spemann's concept of an organizer. It is argued that the organizer concept unfolded multiple layers of meanings (biological, philosophical, and popular) during the 1920s and early 1930s. A detailed analysis of the metaphorical dynamics in Spemann's writings sheds light on the subtle vitalistic connotations of his experimental work. How Spemann's work was received by contemporary scientists and philosophers is analyzed briefly, and Spemann's holism is explored in the broader historical context of the various issues about reductionism and holism and related methodological questions that were so prominently discussed not only in Germany in the 1920s.
本文旨在通过分析动物学家汉斯·施佩曼（Hans Spemann，1869-1941 年）在两次世界大战期间的工作，为德国关于活力论和整体论的争论提供一个新的历史视角。继先前的历史研究之后，本文以有争议的关于斯佩曼与活力论方法的亲和力问题为起点。重点是斯佩曼的整体研究风格，以及斯佩曼的组织者概念的含义变化。本文认为，在 20 世纪 20 年代和 30 年代初期，组织者概念展开了多个层面的含义（生物学、哲学和通俗）。对斯佩曼著作中的隐喻动态的详细分析揭示了他的实验工作中微妙的活力论内涵。本文简要分析了同时代科学家和哲学家对斯佩曼工作的接受情况，并在更广泛的历史背景下探讨了斯佩曼的整体论，涉及到 20 年代不仅在德国而且在其他地方广泛讨论的关于还原论和整体论以及相关方法论问题的各种问题。
