Andrea Gambarotto obtained his PhD in a co-tutored program between the Scuola Normale Superiore (Florence) and the Institut d'historie et de philosophie des sciences et des techniques (Paris). His main areas of expertise are classical German philosophy, philosophy of nature and philosophy of biology. He has published papers especially on German Idealism and on the history of German life-sciences between 18th and 19th century. He is the editor of a volume in history and philosophy of biology dedicated to the notion of organism.

Presents broad textual evidence for the development of theories relating to living forms in classical German philosophy

Proposes that the Biologie is a unitary framework that consists substantially in a compilation and interpretation of earlier theories

Provides an overall account of vitalism and the philosophy of nature in 18th century Germany

Introduction.- I. Generation.- 1. At the Origin of German Vitalism: the Haller-Wolff Debate.- 2. Vital Force and Epigenesis: Wolff's Theory of Generation.- 2.1. Discarding the Invisibility Argument.- 2.2. The Progressive Organization of Parts.- 3. Goal-Directed Organization: Wolff and Blumenbach on Teleology.- 3.1. Wolff''s Vital-Materialism.- 3.2. Realist-Teleological Vitalism: Blumenbach and the Bildungstrieb.- 4. Understanding Purpose: Kant as a Vitalist.- 4.1. Organized Beings and Machines: Kant on the Formative Force.- 4.2. Kant's Regulative Vitalism.- 5. Chemical Vitalism: Reil on the Vital Force.- 5.1. Vital Force as Result of Organization.- 5.2. Reil's Nomological Vitalism.- 6. Concluding Remarks .- II. Functions.- 1. The Göttingen School as Historical Category.- 2. Building Blocks of the Göttingen School: Haller on Vital Properties.- 2.1. Irritability and Sensibility: First Outline of Vitalist Physiology.- 2.2. "Vis Insita": Correlating Structure and Function.- 3. Foundationsof the Göttingen School: Vital Forces in Blumenbach's Physiology.- 3.1. Fluid and Solid Parts of the Living Body.- 3.2. Extending the Hallerian Model.- 3.3. Force and Function.- 4. Core of the Gottingen School: Kielmeyer's Lecture as Program for a General Biology.- 5. Explanatory Framework of the Göttingen School: Link's Deflationist Approach.- 6. Concluding Remarks.- III. Classification.- 1. Classificatory Frameworks in the Late-Eighteenth Century.- 2. Blumenbach on Natural History.- 3. The "Kantian Principle" for Natural History.- 3.1. A New Principle?.- 3.2. Ideas so Monstrous that Reason Recoils Before Them: Kant on Transformism.- 3.3. Phyletic Origin: Kant and Girtanner on Archetypes.- 4. The Unity of Plan in Goethe's Morphology.- 4.1. Metamorphosis as Idealized Epigenesis: Goethe's Relation to Wolff and Blumenbach.- 4.2. Archetype and Compensation: Goethe's Relation to Kielmeyer.- 5. "Vital-Materialism" and Naturphilosophie.- 5.1. "A New Epoch of Natural History": Schelling's Relation to Kielmeyer.- 5.2. The Unity of Plan in the Erster Entwurf .- 6. Transcendental Morphology: a Legacy of Naturphilosophie.- 6.1. Unity of Plan and Vertebrate Theory: Oken's Transcendental Morphology .- 6.2. Transcendental Morphology outside Germany: Geoffroy and Owen.- 7. Concluding Remarks.- IV. Biology.- 1. A New Epistemological Field.- 1.1. The Transformation of Natural History .- 1.2. Defining Life .- 1.3. Vital Force .- 2. The Göttingen School in the Biologie .- 2.1. Epigenesis and Biology.- 2.2. Reproductive Force in the Animal Kingdom.- 3. Naturphilosophie in the Biologie.- 3.1. Mechanism and Teleology.- 3.2. Nature and Spirit.- 4. Ecology and Transformation.- 4.1. Distribution of Living Forms.- 4.2. Transformation of Living Forms.- 5. Treviranus and Lamarck: Notes for a Comparative Perspective.- 6. Concluding Remarks.- Conclusion.