Over the last few decades, an increasing number of biologists and philosophers of biology have argued that the gene-centric paradigm of biology —the so-called ‘modern evolutionary synthesis’ needs to be expanded to incorporate new findings from ecological and developmental biology, which portray organisms are active participants in their own formation and evolution, rather than passive vehicles for their genes. According to my guest on the show today, these debates may be usefully put into conversation with the thought of 19th century German Romantics, who had fascinating and surprisingly precient insights about the nature of life and how to theorize and represent it. 

Greg Rupik is a recent graduate from our department working in the history and philosophy of biology. His previous work include an article entitled Ateleological propagation in Goethe’s Metamorphosis of Plants, published in History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences in 2021, and he has a forthcoming book on the topic which will be published as part of Routledge’s history and philosophy of biology series.

Spontaneous Generations, a podcast by the graduate students of the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, at the University of Toronto