Hans Driesch

Hans Driesch was a German biologist and philosopher associated with experimental embryology and the modern revival of vitalism. The History & Theory Of Vitalism appeared in English in 1914, translated by C. K. Ogden and published in London by Macmillan. Driesch surveys earlier explanations of life before presenting his own argument that living development cannot be fully reduced to mechanical causes. His experiments with sea-urchin embryos shaped that position: separated embryonic cells could still develop in organized ways, leading him to emphasize regulation and the wholeness of organisms. He used the Aristotelian term entelechy for the nonmaterial organizing principle he believed biology required. Modern historians treat that conclusion critically, but they continue to examine Driesch because his experimental questions influenced debates about development, causation, and biological organization. The History & Theory Of Vitalism consequently serves as a historical account and a statement of his mature philosophy, linking laboratory work to a wider argument about what distinguishes living systems.