'Captivated by life': The life sciences in the heretical tradition of Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Ruyer
Abstract
Although their work in the philosophy of biology is not well known, Heidegger,
Merleau-Ponty, and Ruyer all offer interesting and heterodox accounts of the life
and environmental sciences and the organism in particular. In this chapter, we
discuss their respective views, with a focus on their shared criticisms of Neo-
Darwinism and the way this tradition grasped the structural coupling between
organism and environment. We also outline some significant differences between
each of them concerning how to conceive of that holistic relation and the extent
of “captivation” of the animal to its environment. Given that there are indications
that the twenty-first century might be post-genomic/epigenetic, we argue
that it is worth revisiting these neglected organicist trajectories that sought to
navigate between mechanism and vitalism.