Hans Driesch’s “philosophy really ab ovo”, or why to be a vitalist

Abstract

Had Hans Driesch died while his Analytische Theorie der organischen Entwicklung (see the previous Essay) was in the press, he might have become the Franz Schubert of developmental biology: a genius and frühvollendet, with unheard-of treasures sprung from his creative imagination waiting to be acknowledged and admired by posterity. Instead, he lived on happily for nearly half a century. Yet the fates asked a price for this: he was to ruin his reputation — that is, among those professing the mechanistical creed — by preaching vitalism.