Mechanism, Life and Mind in Modern Natural Philosophy (eBook)

This volume emphasizes the diversity and fruitfulness of early modern mechanism as a program, as a concept, as a model. Mechanistic study of the living body but also of the mind and mental processes are examined in careful historical focus, dealing with figures ranging from the first-rank (Bacon, Descartes, Spinoza, Cudworth, Gassendi, Locke, Leibniz, Kant) to less well-known individuals (Scaliger, Martini) or prominent natural philosophers who have been neglected in recent years (Willis, Steno, etc.). The volume moves from early modern medicine and physiology to late Enlightenment and even early 19th-century psychology, always maintaining a conceptual focus. It is a contribution to a newly active field in the history and philosophy of early modern life science. It is of interest to scholars studying the history of medicine and the development of mechanistic theories.

Charles T. Wolfe is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Université de Toulouse-2 Jean-Jaurès. He works primarily in history and philosophy of the early modern life sciences, with a particular interest in materialism and vitalism. He is the author of Materialism: A Historico-Philosophical Introduction (2016), La philosophie de la biologie: une histoire du vitalisme (2019) and Lire le matérialisme (2020), and has edited or coedited volumes on monsters, brains, empiricism, biology and vitalism, including currently (w. D. Jalobeanu) the Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences and (w. J. Symons) The History and Philosophy of Materialism. He is co-editor of the book series 'History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences' (Springer).

Paolo Pecere is associate professor of History of Philosophy at the University of Roma Tre. His research ranges from early modern to contemporary philosophy, natural science and psychology, with a focus on Kant and the Kantian legacy. His books include: La filosofia della natura in Kant (Pagina 2009), Dalla parte di Alice. La coscienza e l'immaginario (Mimesis 2015), Soul, Mind and Brain from Descartes to Cognitive Science. A Critical History (Springer 2020). His last book is the narrative essay Il dio che danza. Viaggi, trance, trasformazioni (nottetempo 2021).

Antonio Clericuzio is Professor of History of Science at the University of Roma Tre. He has held fellowhips from The Warburg Institute, The Wellcome Trust, The Royal Society, The Accademia dei Lincei.  Clericuzio's research focuses on the history of matter theory, chemistry and medicine in the 16th and 17th century. He has published extensively on early modern atomism, Robert Boyle, Helmontianism and the history of life sciences. Clericuzio has published several books, including Elements, Principles and Atoms. Chemistry and Corpuscular Philosophy in the Seventeenth Century (2000), La macchina del mondo (2005), Le scienze nel Rinascimento (with Germana Ernst), 2008; Interpretare e curare. Medicina e salute nel Rinascimento (with Andrea Carlino and Maria Conforti), 2013. He has co-edited The Correspondence of Robert Boyle, 2001. His current book project focuses on Medicine, Chemistry and Natural Philosophy in Early Modern Italy.