Psychology Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Vitalism: representatives of vitalism assumed that life is a kind of principle added to the non-living matter. This principle turns inorganic matter into organic matter. Aristotle had already adopted a principle of life by using his concept of entelecheia, which has its goal in itself._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Stephen Jay Gould on Vitalism - Dictionary of Arguments
IV 301 Vitalism/Gould: Definition "vitalists": thesis: life will always be beyond scientific exploration. Definition "mechanists": life is nothing but physics and chemistry ("reductionism"). IV 303 Gould: middle course: life as a result of structural and functional complexity cannot be broken down into its chemical components and cannot be explained in its entirety by laws. But neither does this irreducibility imply a mystical component. Function: e.g. the cell membrane controls many processes in the cell. How can we interpret the functions of cells by breaking them down into molecular components? >Evolution, >Explanation, >Darwinism._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Gould I Stephen Jay Gould The Panda’s Thumb. More Reflections in Natural History, New York 1980 German Edition: Der Daumen des Panda Frankfurt 2009 Gould II Stephen Jay Gould Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes. Further Reflections in Natural History, New York 1983 German Edition: Wie das Zebra zu seinen Streifen kommt Frankfurt 1991 Gould III Stephen Jay Gould Full House. The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin, New York 1996 German Edition: Illusion Fortschritt Frankfurt 2004 Gould IV Stephen Jay Gould The Flamingo’s Smile. Reflections in Natural History, New York 1985 German Edition: Das Lächeln des Flamingos Basel 1989 |
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