The Change from the Concept of Milieu to Umwelt in the Framework of the Uexküllian Criticism to Mecanism in Biology

Authors

  • Juan Alberto Bastard Rico Facultad de Filosofía y Letras - UNAM

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18270/rcfc.v43i21.3374

Keywords:

Milieu, Umwelt, organisms, mecanicism, subjectivity

Abstract

This article reviews the change from the concept of Milieu to Umwelt in Jakob von Uexküll’s biological work, analising the causes and conditions of such terminological substitution. I propose to understand this change as part of a criticism to the mecanicist conception, prevailed in the biological sciences. Against this conception, Uexküll states a doctrine which intends to comprehend the organism as a subject, due to an strong kantian influence. Towards the end of this article, I show that the uexküllian criticism to mecanism holds many similarities to some contemporary biological and philosophical discourses equally criticals to mecanicism in the 20th-Century Biology.

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Author Biography

Juan Alberto Bastard Rico, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras - UNAM

Afiliación institucional, cargo y ciudad: Profesor de Filosofía en Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, UNAM, CDMX, México. Áreas de trabajo: Ontología, Idealismo Alemán, Filosofía de la Naturaleza, Historia y Filosofía de la Biología. Experiencia y breve descripción curricular:  Licenciado y Maestro en Filosofía por la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, UNAM (con trabajos recepcionales sobre Hegel y Filosofía de la Naturaleza). Candidato a Doctor en el Programa de Posgrado en Filosofía de la Ciencia, UNAM, con un trabajo de investigación sobre el concepto de Umwelt (mundo circundante) del biofilósofo Jakob von Uexküll y su recepción en etología y biosemiótica. Profesor de asignatura ordinario nivel A (interino) en Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, UNAM, a cargo de las materias Ontología 1 y 2 e Historia de la Filosofía 6 y 7.

References

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Uexküll, Jakob von. Leitfaden in das Studium der experimentellen Biologie der Wassertiere. Wiesbaden: Verlag von J. F. Bergmann, 1905.

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______. Umwelt und Innenwelt der Tiere. Berlín: Verlag von Julius Springer, 1909.

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Zammito, John. The Gestation of German Biology. Philosophy and Physiology from Stahl to Schelling. Chicago; London: The University of Ch

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Published

2021-11-05

How to Cite

Bastard Rico, J. A. (2021). The Change from the Concept of Milieu to Umwelt in the Framework of the Uexküllian Criticism to Mecanism in Biology. Revista Colombiana De Filosofía De La Ciencia, 21(43). https://doi.org/10.18270/rcfc.v43i21.3374

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 43 (2021): The biological thought of Jakob von Uexküll

Section

Artículos

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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