Vitalism and Evolution

As demonstrated in Chap. 2 , Driesch (1908) offered an insightful analysis of the relationship between his doctrine of the entelechy and doctrines of evolution. Driesch introduced what he termed “systematics of entelechies” (p. 293), conceptualizing a theory of possible organic forms. I have contended that Driesch presented—or perhaps revitalized—the most ambitious theoretical proposal in the history of evolutionary biology: Evolution proceeds according to a system of possible organic forms, (partly) predetermined by vital laws. This chapter refers to this concept as vital evolutionism and outlines its historical development. Subsequently, it first reviews pertinent historical literature, and then introduces various articulations of vital evolutionism by natural philosophers and theoretical biologists, both before and after Charles Darwin. Further, this chapter examines concepts of creative and emergent evolution, emphasizing their fundamental divergences from vital evolutionism. Before concluding with several brief remarks, this chapter provides some critical notes on Darwinism, with respect to its equivocal role in the history of evolutionary biology.