Eugenio Vittorio Rignano (31 May 1870 in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

– 9 February 1930 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

) was a Jewish Italian

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Biography

He was born in Livorno to Giacomo Rignano and Fortunata Tedesco, into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. Rignano edited the journal ''Rivista di scienza'', later known as ''

Scientia Scientia is the Latin word for knowledge. It may refer to: * 7756 Scientia *'' The Triumph of Science over Death'', a sculpture of Filipino hero José Rizal * ''Scientia'' (UTFSM journal), a scientific journal published by Universidad Técnica F ...

(it)''. His book ''The Psychology of Reasoning'' (1923) influenced the social anthropologist

Edward Evans-Pritchard Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard, Kt FBA FRAI (21 September 1902 – 11 September 1973) was an English anthropologist who was instrumental in the development of social anthropology. He was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University ...

. His book ''Man Not a Machine'' (1926) was replied to by

Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, in ...

's ''Man A Machine'' (1927). In 1897 he married Costanza "Nina" Sullam, also from a Jewish family. Rignano took interest in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and wrote a book that argued for the

inheritance of acquired characteristics Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...

. He advanced a moderated

Lamarckian Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...

hypothesis of inheritance known as "centro-epigenesis". His views were controversial and not accepted by most in the

scientific community The scientific community is a diverse network of interacting scientists. It includes many " sub-communities" working on particular scientific fields, and within particular institutions; interdisciplinary and cross-institutional activities are als ...

. His book ''The Nature of Life'' (1930) was described in a review as presenting a "militant, at times almost an evangelical exposition and defense of an energetic vitalism." However, historian

Peter J. Bowler Peter J. Bowler (born 8 October 1944) is a historian of biology who has written extensively on the history of evolutionary thought, the history of the environmental sciences, and on the history of genetics. His 1984 book, ''Evolution: The His ...

has written that Rignano rejected both

materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materiali ...

and

vitalism Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...

and adopted a similar position to what was known as emergent evolution.

Li Dazhao Li Dazhao or Li Ta-chao (October 29, 1889 – April 28, 1927) was a Chinese intellectual and revolutionary who participated in the New Cultural Movement in the early years of the Republic of China, established in 1912. He co-founded the Chinese ...

, one of the founders of the China Communist Party, was an avid reader of Rignano's works. Rignano's views on acquired characteristics and organic memory are discussed in detail by historian

Laura Otis Laura Otis is an American historian of science, and Professor of English, at Emory University. She graduated from Yale University with a B.S. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry in 1983, and from the University of California, San Francisco ...

and psychologist

Daniel Schacter Daniel Lawrence Schacter (born June 17, 1952) is an American psychologist. He is a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. His research has focused on psychological and biological aspects of human memory and amnesia, with a particular empha ...

. ''Forgotten Ideas, Neglected Pioneers: Richard Semon and the Story of Memory''.

Psychology Press Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

, 2001. pp. 116-117

Works

* ''Di un socialismo in accordo colla dottrina economica liberale'', Torino,

Fratelli Bocca Fratelli Bocca Editori was an Italian publishing house. Their activity as printers in Piedmont dates back to the first decades of the 18th century. The business ceased in Milan in the 1950s. History Origins Antonio Secondo Bocca worked as a print ...

, 1901. * ''Über die Vererbung erworbener Eigenschaften'', Leipzig, Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, 1905. * ''Sulla trasmissibilità dei caratteri acquisiti. Ipotesi d'una centro-epigenesi'', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1907. * ''L'adattamento funzionale e la teleologia psico-fisica del Pauly'', Bologna: Zanichelli, 1907. * ''La valeur synthétique du transformisme'', Paris, Editions de la Revue du Mois, 1907. * ''Che cos'è la coscienza?'', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1907. * ''Le matérialisme historique'', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1908. * ''Le psychisme des organismes inférieurs: (à propos de la théorie de Jennings)'', Estratto da: «Scientia», anno II, volume 3, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1908. * ''La mémoire biologique en énergétique'', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1909. * ''Il fenomeno religioso'', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1910. * ''Il socialismo'', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1910. * ''Dell'attenzione. Parte 1: contrasto affettivo e unità di coscienza '', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1911. * ''Dell'origine e natura mnemonica delle tendenze affettive'', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1911. * ''Per accrescere diffusione ed efficacia alle università popolari'', Milano, La compositrice, 1911. * ''La vera funzione delle università popolari'', Roma, Nuova Antologia, 1911. * ''Dell'attenzione. Parte 2: vividità e connessione'', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1912. * ''Le rôle des théoriciens dans les sciences biologiques et sociologiques'', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1912. * ''L'evoluzione del ragionamento'', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1913. * ''Il nuovo programma dell'Un. pop. milanese: primo anno d'esperimento'', Como, Premiata Tipografia Cooperativa comense Aristide Bari, 1913. * ''Le forme superiori del ragionamento'', Bologna, Zanichelli, 1915. * * ''Democrazia e fascismo'', Milano, Casa editrice "Alpes", 1924.

Translated in English

* ''Upon the Inheritance of Acquired Characters: A Hypothesis of Heredity, Development, and Assimilation''. Translated by Basil C. H. Harvey, 1906. * ''Essays in Scientific Synthesis''. Translated by

William John Greenstreet William John Greenstreet (1861–1930) was an English mathematician who was editor of ''The Mathematical Gazette'' for more than thirty years. Life and work Greenstreet was son of a Royal Artillery's Sergeant. He was educated at Southwark and ...

, Chicago: The Open Court Pub. Co., 1918. * ''The Psychology of Reasoning''. Translated by Winifred A. Holl, 1923.

The International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific Method The International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific Method was an influential series of monographs published from 1922 to 1965 under the general editorship of Charles Kay Ogden by Kegan Paul, Trench Trubner & Co. in London. This ser ...

* ''The Social Significance of the Inheritance Tax''. Translated by William John Schultz, New York: A.A. Knopf, 1924. Introduction by

Edwin R. A. Seligman Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman (1861–1939), was an American economist who spent his entire academic career at Columbia University in New York City. Seligman is best remembered for his pioneering work involving taxation and public finance. His p ...

. English ed. (1925) as ''The Social Significance of Death Duties'', with an introduction by Sir

Josiah Stamp Josiah Charles Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, (21 June 1880 – 16 April 1941) was an English industrialist, economist, civil servant, statistician, writer, and banker. He was a director of the Bank of England and chairman of the London, Midland and Scot ...

. * ''Man Not a Machine: A Study of the Finalistic Aspects of Life'', London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1926. With a foreword by Professor

Hans Driesch Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch (28 October 1867 – 17 April 1941) was a German biologist and philosopher from Bad Kreuznach. He is most noted for his early experimental work in embryology and for his neo-vitalist philosophy of entelechy. He has also ...

. * ''Biological Memory''. Translated by

Ernest MacBride Ernest William MacBride Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (12 December 1866, in Belfast – 17 November 1940, in Alton, Hampshire) was a British/Irish Marine biology, marine biologist, one of the last supporters of Lamarckism, Lamarckian evolution ...

, 1926.

. * ''The Aim of Human Existence: Being a System of Morality Based on the Harmony of Life''. Translated from the French by Paul Crissman and Edward L. Schaub, Chicago: The Open Court Pub. Co., 1929. Reprinted from ''

The Monist ''The Monist: An International Quarterly Journal of General Philosophical Inquiry'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of philosophy. It was established in October 1890 by American publisher Edward C. Hegeler. History Init ...

'', January, 1929. * ''The Nature of Life''. Translated by N. Mallinson, London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd.; New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1930

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rigano, Eugenio 1870 births 1930 deaths 20th-century Italian Jews 20th-century Italian philosophers Jewish philosophers 19th-century Italian Jews People from Livorno Jewish Italian scientists