Hans Driesch
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Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch (28 October 1867 – 17 April 1941) was a German
biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually speciali ...
and philosopher from
Bad Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, most well known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke, which is one of the few remaining bridges in the ...
. He is most noted for his early experimental work in
embryology Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, '' -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos an ...
and for his neo- vitalist philosophy of entelechy. He has also been credited with performing the first artificial 'cloning' of an animal in the 1880s, although this claim is dependent on how one defines cloning.


Early years

Driesch was educated at the
Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums The ''Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums'' ( ''Academic School of the Johanneum'', short: Johanneum) is a Gymnasium (or Grammar School ) in Hamburg, Germany. It is Hamburg's oldest school and was founded in 1529 by Johannes Bugenhagen. The school's ...
. He began to study medicine in 1886 under
August Weismann August Friedrich Leopold Weismann FRS (For), HonFRSE, LLD (17 January 18345 November 1914) was a German evolutionary biologist. Fellow German Ernst Mayr ranked him as the second most notable evolutionary theorist of the 19th century, after C ...
at the University of Freiburg. In 1887 he attended the
University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...
under
Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new s ...
,
Oscar Hertwig Oscar Hertwig (21 April 1849 in Friedberg, Hesse, Friedberg – 25 October 1922 in Berlin) was a German embryologist and zoologist known for his research in developmental biology and evolution. Hertwig is credited as the first man to observe se ...
and Christian Ernst Stahl. In 1888 he studied physics and chemistry at the University of Munich. He received his doctorate in 1889. He travelled widely on field and study trips and lecture-tours, visiting Plymouth, India, Zurich and Leipzig where, in 1894, he published his ''Analytische Theorie der organischen Entwicklung'' or ''Analytic Theory of Organic Development''. His interests encompassed mathematics, philosophy and physics as well as biology. He married Margarete Relfferschneidt, and the couple had two children.


Experiments in embryology

From 1891 Driesch worked in Naples at the
Marine Biological Station Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...
, where until 1901 he continued to experiment and seek a theoretical formulation of his results. He enquired into classical and modern philosophy in his search for an adequate theoretical overview and ended by adopting an
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...
an teleological theory of entelechy. Under the influence of his teacher Haeckel, Driesch had tested the mechanistic embryological theories of another of Haeckel's students, Wilhelm Roux. Driesch studied sea urchin embryos, and found that when he separated the two cells of the embryo after the first cell-division, each developed into a complete sea urchin. This was contrary to his expectation that each cell would develop into the corresponding half of the animal, a prediction based on Wilhelm Roux's earlier work with frog embryos. This also happened at the four-cell stage: entire larvae ensued from each of the four cells, albeit smaller than usual. By 1885 Driesch's experiments on the
sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) ...
embryo showed that it was even possible to shuffle the
blastomere In biology, a blastomere is a type of cell produced by cell division (cleavage) of the zygote after fertilization; blastomeres are an essential part of blastula formation, and blastocyst formation in mammals. Human blastomere characteristics ...
s of the early embryo without affecting the resulting larva. These findings suggested that any single cell in the early embryo was capable of forming any part of the developing larva. This seemed to be an important refutation of both early
preformation In the history of biology, preformationism (or preformism) is a formerly popular theory that organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves. Instead of assembly from parts, preformationists believed that the form of living things exist ...
ideas and the later mosaic theory of Wilhelm Roux, and was to be subject to much discussion in the ensuing years. The conclusion caused friction among Driesch, Roux and Haeckel. Driesch's findings brought about the adoption of the terms "totipotent" and "pluripotent" cell, referring respectively to a cell that can generate every cell in an organism and one that can generate nearly every cell. Driesch's results were confirmed with greater precision, and the experiments extended, by Sven Hörstadius who showed that conclusions of equivalence between sea urchin embryonic cells were an over-simplification.


The philosophy of entelechy

Driesch, believing that his results compromised contemporary mechanistic theories of
ontogeny Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the stu ...
, instead proposed that the autonomy of life that he deduced from this persistence of embryological development despite interferences was due to what he called entelechy, a term borrowed from
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...
's philosophy to indicate a
life force Life force or lifeforce may refer to: * Spirit (vital essence), in folk belief, the vital principle or animating force within all living things * Vitality, ability to live or exist * Vitalism, the belief in the existence of vital energy ** Energy ...
which he conceived of as ''psychoid'' or "mind-like", that is; non-spatial, intensive, and qualitative rather than spatial, extensive, and quantitative. Driesch was awarded the chair of natural theology at the
University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...
, where he delivered the
Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in ...
in 1906 and 1908 on ''The Science and Philosophy of the Organism'' - the first comprehensive presentation of his ideas. From 1909, determined to take up a career in academic philosophy, he taught natural philosophy at the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Heidelberg. In the ensuing decade he published a complete system of philosophy in three volumes, including his fundamental ''Theory of Order'' (1912) in which he proposed a three-part "
doctrine Doctrine (from la, Wikt:doctrina, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given ...
of order". In 1919 he was ordinary professor of systematic philosophy at Cologne and in 1921 professor of philosophy at Leipzig, though he was a visiting professor in
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...
and
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
during 1922-23, and in 1923 he received honorable doctor's degree from National Southeastern University (later renamed
National Central University National Central University (NCU, ; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Kwet-li̍p Chung-yong Thài-ho̍k'', Wade–Giles: ''Kuo2 Li4 Chung Yang Ta4 Hsüeh2'' or ''中大'', ''Chung-ta'') is a public research university with long-standing traditions based in Taiw ...
and
Nanjing University Nanjing University (NJU; ) is a national public research university in Nanjing, Jiangsu. It is a member of C9 League and a Class A Double First Class University designated by the Chinese central government. NJU has two main campuses: the Xianli ...
) where he taught for a semester. He taught at the University of Wisconsin (1926–27) and in Buenos Aires (1928). In 1933 he was removed from his Leipzig chair and prematurely placed in emeritus status by the Nazi administration, the first non-Jewish academic to be thus expelled, because of his
pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaig ...
and open hostility to Nazism. He became interested in parapsychology and published on such phenomena as
telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
, clairvoyance, and
telekinesis Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
. His concept of entelechy was criticized by the scientific community. Biologist J. W. Jenkinson wrote that Dreisch was inventing new entities "beyond necessity and the progress of science would be better served by a simpler philosophy." Zoologist Herbert Spencer Jennings commented that the concept of entelechy "does not help in our understanding of matters in the least." His vitalist writings were criticized by historian
Ruth Brandon Ruth Brandon (born 1943) is a British journalist, historian and author. Biography Brandon began her career as a trainee producer for the BBC, working in radio and television. She moved to work in freelance journalism and as an author. She is t ...
for being based on a religious rather than an objective scientific standpoint. Brandon, Ruth. (1983). ''The Spiritualists: The Passion for the Occult in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries''. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. pp. 91-92.


Parapsychology

Driesch developed a deep interest in Psychical Research and
Parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near- ...
. In 1931, he published a methodology of parapsychological research (in German) and in 1933 he published a book on the topic titled ''Psychical Research: The Science of the Super-normal''. From 1926 to 1927 he served as the president of the
Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...
.


Selected works


In German

* ''Die Biologie als selbstständige Wissenschaft'' (1893) * ''Die Lokalisation morphogenetischer Vorgänge Ein Beweis vitalistischen Geschehens'' (1899) * ''Analytische Theorie der organischen Entwicklung'' (1894) * ''Der Vitalismus als Geschichte und als Lehre'' (1905) * ''Der Begriff der organischen Form'' (1919) * ''Philosophie des Organischen'' (4th ed. 1928)


In English

*Driesch, H. (1908)
''The Science and Philosophy of the Organism: The Gifford Lectures delivered before the University of Aberdeen in the Year 1907 and 1908''
(2 vols.). London: Adam and Charles Black

2nd ed. London: A. & C. Black, 1929. *Driesch, H. (1912). ''The Justification of Vitalism''. '' Cambridge Magazine'' 1 (15): 397. *Driesch, H. (1914)
''The Problem of Individuality: A Course of Four Lectures Delivered before the University of London in October 1913''
London: Macmillan. *Driesch, H. (1914)
''The History and Theory of Vitalism''
( C. K. Ogden, trans.) London: Macmillan. *Driesch, H. (1924). "The Biological Setting of Psychical Phenomena". ''The Quest'' 15 (July): 433–456. *Driesch, H. (1925). ''The Crisis in Psychology''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. *Driesch, H. (1925). ''The Possibility of Metaphysics: The Course of Four Lectures Delivered before the University of London in March 1924''. London: Faith Press. *Driesch, H. (1926). "The Present Status of the Philosophy of Nature in Germany". T'' he Monist'' 36 (2): 281–298. *Driesch, H. (1926). "Psychical Research and Established Science". Presidential address. ''Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research'' 36(99): 171–186. *Driesch, H. (1927). "Psychical Research and Philosophy". In: Carl Murchison (ed.), ''The Case For and Against Psychical Belief''. Worcester: Clark University, 163–178. *Driesch, H. (1933)
''Psychical Research: The Science of the Super-Normal''
( Theodore Besterman, trans.) London: G. Bell & Sons. *Driesch, H. (1934). "Psychiatry and Mental Health". ''Ancient Philosophy'' 44: 152. ook Review


See also

*
Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new s ...
* Wilhelm Roux * Hans Spemann * Alexander Gurwitsch


References


Further reading

*Griffith, O. W. (1915)
''Theory of Vitalism''
''
The Hibbert Journal ''The Hibbert Journal'' was a large, quarterly magazine in softback book format, issued since 1902 by the Hibbert Trust, best described by its subtitle: ''A Quarterly Review of Religion, Theology and Philosophy''. In the early years it was publish ...
'' 13: 438-443. * *


External links

* * * *
Biography and bibliography
in the Virtual Laboratory of the
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (German: Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte) is a scientific research institute founded in March 1994. It is dedicated to addressing fundamental questions of the history of knowledg ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Driesch 1867 births 1941 deaths 20th-century German biologists German embryologists 20th-century German philosophers Parapsychologists People from Bad Kreuznach People from the Rhine Province German male writers University of Freiburg alumni University of Jena alumni People educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums Gifford Lectures