Abstract
No doubt most thoughtful biologists deplore the small number of generalisations which exist in their science compared with the ever-increasing masses of unrelated facts reported by workers in field and laboratory. Evidently some attention to fundamental concepts is required, and Mr. Woodger has made an attempt to survey critically the primary suppositions which are involved in biological thought. His book begins with a discussion of the relations between natural science and philosophy, including a vigorous attack upon phenomenalism. Mr. Woodger is for the most part a follower of Prof. Whitehead and the Cambridge school of logicians. The book then gives an account of the principal antitheses of biology (vitalism-mechariism, structure-function, organism- environment, preformation-epigenesis, teleology- causation, mind-body), mediating between them and mitigating the bitterness of their opposition. Finally, the author ventures on a discussion of the future of biology.
Biological Principles: a Critical Study.
By J. H. Woodger. (International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific Method.) Pp. xii + 498. (London: Kegan Paul and Co.; New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1929.) 21s.
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Biological Principles: a Critical Study . Nature 124, 909 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/124909a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/124909a0
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