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Lorenz Oken (1779–1851): Naturphilosophie and the reform of natural history

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2017

ANDREA GAMBAROTTO*
Affiliation:
Fonds national de la recherche scientifique, Université Catholique de Louvain, Institut Supérieur de Philosophie, 14 Place du Cardinal Mercier, B-1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Email: [email protected].

Abstract

The paper focuses on the work of Lorenz Oken (1779–1851) in an attempt to make sense of the role played by Romantic Naturphilosophie in the development of natural history in Germany at the turn of the nineteenth century. It first focuses on the role played by Schelling and his Würzburg circle in the development of Oken's early views on natural history, then reconstructs Oken's mature programme for a reform of animal classification.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society for the History of Science 2017 

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