History of Science 2220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Teleology, Vitalism, Empiricism
2 May 2018
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Physiology Part 1
Overview
1. General principles of physiology
2. Vitalism and mechanism
3. Classical Greece
4. Humors
5. Hippocrates
General Principles of Physiology
• Phusis – Greek for nature
o About the natural world
o Living things and the function of living organisms
o Structure anatomy is a good guide but doesn’t give the inside to function that we
want
• Studies function rather than structure (i.e., anatomy) …
o … Yet, structure is a clue to function (see this in part 2)
• Physiology journal
Conflict between science and life? Photo: William Blake – Isaac Newton (1795-1805)
Sense of which he is a living creature that is a part of nature
Still part of the mathematical representation, objectively measuring the world, however,
life is more fundamental than math
Key Themes (Duffin, 41-42):
1. Vitalism versus mechanism
- Description of signs of life- the set of rules for living things
- Living things can be translated into mechanistic things
2. Empiricism versus teleology
- Teleology looking for purposes and explain the scientific background
(answering the why)
3. Experimentation versus speculation
- Greek and the humors
4. Physiology as a discipline
5. Positivism
- Looking for proof
- Represents the ideology of science today
Vitalism: living things
- Living things have a unique property: Life
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- Life cannot be reduced to physical laws (Duffin, 41)
- Biology (study of life)
o Bio = life in Greek
o Life as a unique thing that is studied
- Life force = “spirit” (pneuma) (43)
o often seen in religious terms
o all living things have a soul
o that view is seen as too speculative in medicine today
Essential common traits of living things:
• Movement Growth
• Respiration Reproduction (hardest to find in non-living things)
• Sensitivity Excretion
Nutrition
• (= MRS. GREN)
need to have all of these in order to be considered a living thing
Mechanism: All things (Duffin, 41)
• Mechanism: “the reduction of life to physical and chemical forces” = materialism
- all living things are like machines, they obey the laws of physics
o EX. A train – matter in motion
- Reduce humans to be a particular matter in motion. Obeys basic laws of physics and
chemistry.
- About matter and material changes in matter
- Translates all matter into the same kind of relationships and laws. There is nothing
special about living matter
Physics is the model for mechanism = matter in motion
• Forces in nature apply to living and non-living things equally
• Body as machine
o Does the same things as non-living things
o Chemistry further shows the bodies chemical processes
o Taking a bad part and putting a new part in
• No special life force
Classical Greece (vitalism)
• Ancient/Classical period (776 BCE to 323 BCE): From first Olympics to death of
Alexander the Great
• See NIH timeline for Greek medicine
• Greek science begins to flourish
- Everything is explained through a dominant religion- key feature of the medieval view.
However, it does not drown out rational enquiry
• Observation and speculation
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Overview: general principles of physiology, vitalism and mechanism, classical greece, humors, hippocrates. Yet, structure is a clue to function (see this in part 2: physiology journal. Sense of which he is a living creature that is a part of nature. Still part of the mathematical representation, objectively measuring the world, however, life is more fundamental than math. Key themes (duffin, 41-42): vitalism versus mechanism. Description of signs of life- the set of rules for living things. Living things can be translated into mechanistic things: empiricism versus teleology. Teleology looking for purposes and explain the scientific background (answering the why: experimentation versus speculation. Greek and the humors: physiology as a discipline, positivism. Living things have a unique property: life. Life cannot be reduced to physical laws (duffin, 41) Biology (study of life: bio = life in greek, life as a unique thing that is studied.
