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Kant's universal conception of natural history
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Cooper, Andrew (2019) Kant's universal conception of natural history. Studies In History and Philosophy of Science Part A . doi:10.1016/j.shpsa.2019.01.004 ISSN 0039-3681.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2019.01.004
Abstract
Scholars often draw attention to the remarkably individual and progressive character of Kant's Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens (1755). What is less often noted, however, is that Kant's project builds on several transformations that occurred in natural science during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Without contextualising Kant's argument within these transformations, the full sense of Kant's achievement remains unseen. This paper situates Kant's essay within the analogical form of Newtonianism developed by a diverse range of naturalists including Georges Buffon, Albrecht von Haller and Thomas Wright. It argues that Kant's universal conception of natural history can be viewed within the free-thinking and anti-clerical movement associated with Buffon. This does not mean, however, that it breaks from the methodological rules of Newtonianism. The claim of this paper is that Kant's essay contributes to the transformation of natural history from a logical system of classification to an explanation for the physical diversity of natural products according to laws.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) | ||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy | ||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1804, Natural history | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Studies In History and Philosophy of Science Part A | ||||||
Publisher: | Pergamon | ||||||
ISSN: | 0039-3681 | ||||||
Official Date: | 22 February 2019 | ||||||
Dates: |
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DOI: | 10.1016/j.shpsa.2019.01.004 | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 26 February 2019 | ||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 22 August 2020 | ||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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