02552cam a22003373u 4500 78368 UtSlPG 20260610134822.0 m cr n 260607r20261930utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d 31006978 UtSlPG en iso639-1 QH Hogben, Lancelot Thomas, 1895-1975 The nature of living matter Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2026 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Release date is 2026-04-06 Vitalism and mechanism -- Darwinism and the atomistic interpretation of inheritance -- Holism and the publicist standpoint in philosophy. Sean (@parchmentglow) "The nature of living matter" by Lancelot Thomas Hogben is a collection of scientific essays on biology and philosophy written in the early 20th century. The work probes what “life” means in scientific terms, weighing mechanistic against vitalistic views, and argues that biology’s methods align with those of physics, treating mind as behaviour and keeping science ethically neutral. The opening of the work frames the essays as an outgrowth of a public debate on the nature of life, sets out a program to critique prominent contemporary views, and emphasizes method over metaphysical claims. It introduces the tension between science and common sense, urges bringing modern biology into philosophy, distinguishes public (communicable) knowledge from private experience, and defines “life” as the properties of living things rather than a metaphysical essence. The first essay advances the “mechanization of consciousness,” replacing talk of mind with behaviour and drawing on Pavlov’s conditioned reflexes to analyze learning, attention, and sensation without introspection, thereby challenging vitalism and inherited dualisms. The next essay begins an “atomistic” account of heredity, using Mendel’s findings and their later development to show how genetics, like chemistry, builds predictive laws while discarding teleology. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1930 Biology https://archive.org/details/natureoflivingma0000lanc/page/n7/mode/2up https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78368 119088 119088