The Reception of Darwinism in France
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The Reception of Darwinism in France[edit]
Late 19th century to early 20th century[edit]
This article considers the reception of Darwinism in France during the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. T.H. Huxley writes in his biography of Darwin that the French Academy of Sciences drew around itself a curtain in response to Darwin's Origin of Species. During this time, French naturalists were divided into two main camps: anti-transformists, and neo-Lamarckians[1]. Lamarck espoused a theory in which organisms have the capacity to change and adapt to new environmental challenges[2]. Lamarckians thought that the adaptive responses of organisms to their respective environments could result in changes that could be passed on to offspring[3].Darwin's theory, on the other hand, was centred around spontaneous organic variability[1]. Nevertheless, Darwin could never specify the mechanism of variation or heredity in his career as a naturalist[4]. Darwinian theory and Lamarckism are contradictory.
Charles Darwin published the Origin of Species on November 24th 1859. By 1862, the first translation of the Origin of Species into French had been published by the French philosopher Clémence Royer[5]. 1862-1878 marked the period when Darwin faced opposition to his theory in the Académie des Sciences. Darwin primarily faced opposition to his theory from those who adhered to neo-Lamarckism. Lamarck's Philosophie Zoologique was published almost half a century before the French translation of Darwin's Origin of Species. Lamarck championed a theory in which living species cannot be traced to their fossil ancestors[2]. By the 1870s, Lamarck was considered by many as one of the founding fathers of "modern evolutionary doctrines"[6]. Lamarck was an established naturalist in the French scientific community. His work Recherches sur l'organisation des Corps Vivants was published in 1802. Five years prior, in 1797, Lamarck even published Memoires de Physique et d'histoire naturelle. Here, Lamarck revealed his initial belief in the immutability of species. Given the prevalence of Lamarckism, Yvette Conry (1930-1992) has argued that Darwinism was largely misinterpreted and rejected in France during this period. 1890-1900 is the decade when French naturalists began to accept Darwinism on a large scale, and Philippe de Vilmorin was among the first to engage with Darwinism.
Notable oppositions to Darwin include: Clémence Royer who translated and published the Origin of Species in French during 1862, 1866, and 1870. By 1870, her writings reduced Darwinism to a theoretical supplement of Lamarck's ideas[1]. The French botanist and agronomist Joseph Descaisne (1807-1882) accepted a limited degree of organic variability, but never accepted Darwin's theory that species could turn into other species[1]. Claude Bernard (1813-1878), a French physiologist studied the biology of internal organs. Much of Bernard's work was based on experimental proofs. Bernard was of the opinion that Darwin's theories on the appearance of species lacked substantial proofs[1]. The famous microbiologist, Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), never fully accepted Darwinism. Interestingly, Pasteur was championed as the defender of the the Catholic Faith by conservative factions[7]. Darwinism was perceived as an attack on The Creation, and this proved to be unpopular among the strong contingent of Catholic scientists in France[7]. Likewise, the French biologist, Felix le Dantec (1869-1917) wrote a book titled Lamarckiens et Darwiniens. Discussion de quelques theories sur la formation des especes. His discussion of theories on the formation of species revealed that he also subscribed to Lamarckism. Charles Richet (1850-1935), who won the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine in 1913, was also a Lamarckian. Positions of scholarly significance were also largely awarded to Lamarckians. Alfred Giard was awarded the first Chair of Organic Evolution by the Faculty of Sciences in the city of Paris in 1888. He held Lamarckian beliefs[1].Yves Delage (1854-1920), a Lamarckian zoologist, held the chair of Comparative Zoology, Anatomy and Physiology at the Faculty of Sciences in Paris[1]. Darwinism was not well received in other scientific disciplines in France either. The celebrated philosopher and sociologist Gabriel Tarde published an article in La Revue Philosophique de la France et de L'etranger urging people to be suspicious of how Darwinian theory could be applied to other disciplines of science[8].
Notes[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Glick, Thomas. F (2008). "The Reception of Charles Darwin in Europe". eBook Academic Collection EBSCO Host.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Egerton, Frank N. (1968-01-01). "Studies of Animal Populations from Lamarck to Darwin". Journal of the History of Biology. 1 (2): 225–259. JSTOR 4330497.
- ↑ Burkhardt, Richard W. (1983-01-01). Bowler, Peter J., ed. "Evolutionary Theories". Science. 222 (4620): 156–157. JSTOR 1691070.
- ↑ GILLISPIE, CHARLES COULSTON (1958). "LAMARCK AND DARWIN IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE". American Scientist. 46 (4): 388–409. JSTOR 27827201.
- ↑ Moore, J. R. (1977-01-01). Conry, Yvette, ed. "Could Darwinism Be Introduced in France?". The British Journal for the History of Science. 10 (3): 246–251. JSTOR 4025844.
- ↑ Zeligowski, Anna (2011). Transformations of Lamarckism: From Subtle Fluids to Molecular Biology. Massachussetts: MIT Press. p. 200. Search this book on
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Henry, Freeman G. (1999-01-01). "Anti-Darwinism in France: Science and the Myth of Nation". Nineteenth-Century French Studies. 27 (3/4): 290–304. JSTOR 23537384.
- ↑ Egerton, Frank N. (1968). "Studies of Animal Populations from Lamarck to Darwin". Journal of the History of Biology. 1 (2): 225–259. JSTOR 4330497.
The Reception of Darwinism in France[edit]
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