Vitalism (from the Latin vitalis - alive, life-giving) is an idealistic movement in biology that allows for the existence of an intangible vital force in any living organism. The prerequisites of the theory of vitalism can be observed in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, who talked about the immortal soul (psyche) and immaterial power (entelechy), which controls the phenomena of living nature. Then mankind was carried away by the mechanical explanation of phenomena, about vitalism was remembered only in the 17th century. The last flowering of neo-vitalism took place in the second half of the 19th century. But with the development of biology and medicine, the theory of vitalism was debunked, let us see what its failure is.
Vitalism and its collapse
At all times, mankind was interested in the issue of the origin of life. While scientific thought was not developed, explanations of religious persuasion did not cause any doubt. But when people realized that the world is ruled by mechanical laws, the theory of divine origin began to cause many doubts. But here's the thing, science, too, could not give a reasoned explanation of the origin of life. It was then that vitalism appeared that does not deny physical laws, but also recognizes the existence of an immaterial driving force that is the beginning of the beginnings. The final formation of the concept of vitalism came at a time of rapid development of science, when people finally lost faith in the fact that an explanation of the world order can only be given from a rational and practical point of view. A great contribution to the formation of the theory was made by such scientists as G. Stahl (doctor) and H. Drish (embryologist). The latter, in particular, said that scientists can never create a single living being, for the process of creation can not be a field of mechanics.
But the years went by, science developed, new laws were opened. In the end, according to vitalism, there was a devastating blow (in the opinion of those who inflicted it). In 1828, F. Woehler (German chemist) published his works, in which he cited the results of experiments on the synthesis of urea. He managed to create an organic mix of inorganics in the same way that the kidneys of a living being make it. This was the first impetus to the collapse of vitalism, and subsequent research has caused more and more damage to this theory. In the 50-ies of the XX century a systematic development of the synthesis of organic substances began. The French chemist P.E.M. Berthelot was able to synthesize methane, benzene, ethyl and methyl alcohols, as well as acetylene. At this point, the boundary between organic and inorganic, considered indestructible, was destroyed. Modern research does not leave anything from vitalism - people could synthesize the virus, achieved success in cloning and little else where science will lead us, maybe soon we will learn how to create biorobots - a completely new form of life, thus standing on one level with the Creator.
Theory of vitalism in the modern world
Well, we sorted it out, science - the Forever, vitalism - to the dump! But do not rush to conclusions, the discovery of laws to which natural phenomena are subject, in no way denies the theory of vitalism, because someone (or something) these laws had to come up with. Moreover, philosophers of the past considered mathematics to be almost a religion