Jacob Moleschott
Moleschott in 1892
Born
Jacobus Albertus Willebrordus Moleschott

9 August 1822 (1822-08-09)
's-Hertogenbosch, United Kingdom of the Netherlands
Died20 May 1893 (1893-05-21) (aged 70)
Rome, Kingdom of Italy
NationalityDutch
EducationHeidelberg University
Era19th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolGerman materialism[1]
InstitutionsHeidelberg University
University of Zürich
University of Turin
University of Rome
Main interests
Philosophy of science

Jacob Moleschott (9 August 1822 – 20 May 1893) was a Dutch physiologist and writer on dietetics. He is known for his philosophical views in regard to scientific materialism. He was a member of German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (since 1884).

Life

Born in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, Moleschott studied at Heidelberg University, where he obtained his PhD in 1845, and began the practice of medicine in Utrecht in 1845, but soon moved back to Heidelberg University, where he lectured on physiology starting in 1847. The university reprimanded Moleschott for various controversial statements made in his lectures, leading to his resignation in 1854. Next to Carl Vogt and Ludwig Büchner, Moleschott stood in the center of the public debates about materialism in Germany in the 1850s.[4]

He taught as a professor of physiology at Zürich (1856), at Turin (1861), and at Rome (1879), where he died.

Writings

Moleschott explained the origin and condition of animals by the working of physical causes. He was an atheist which led to his removal from teaching at the Heidelberg University.[5] His characteristic formulae were "no thought without phosphorus" and "the brain secretes thought as the liver secretes bile." His major works are:

The Jacob Moleschoot fund is kept in the Archiginnasio of Bologna's public library.[6][7][8]

Notes

  1. ^ Owen Chadwick, The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, Cambridge University Press, 1990, p. 165: "During the 1850s German ... scientists conducted a controversy known ... as the materialistic controversy. It was specially associated with the names of Vogt, Moleschott and Büchner" and p. 173: "Frenchmen were surprised to see Büchner and Vogt. ... [T]he French were surprised at German materialism".
  2. ^ John Powell, Derek W. Blakeley, Tessa Powell (eds.), Biographical Dictionary of Literary Influences: The Nineteenth Century, 1800-1914, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, "Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich (1849–1936)."
  3. ^ Van Raak, Ronald. "'Eer de vergeten filosoof Jacob Moleschott'". Filosofie Magazine. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  4. ^ Daum, Wissenschaftspopularisierung, pp. 210, 293–99, 355, 379, 415–6, 426, 443, 456–57, 503.
  5. ^ Harmke Kamminga (1995). The Science and Culture of Nutrition, 1840-1940. Rodopi. p. 31. ISBN 978-90-5183-818-3. Moleschott's atheism is much more prominent, for example, and he declares absurd Liebig's opinion that insights into the laws of nature inevitably lead us to the notion of a Being knowable only through revelation.
  6. ^ "Jacob Moleschott archive" (in Italian).
  7. ^ "Fondo speciale Jacob Moleschott" (in Italian).
  8. ^ Busi, Patrizia (September 1, 2011). "Moleschott in the Biblioteca dell'Archiginnasio in Bologna. History of the archivistic fund and ordinary criteria". Giornale Critico della Filosofia Italiana. 7 (3): 588. Retrieved May 18, 2021.

References

External links

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