{"title":"狄德罗的唯物主义","authors":"Charles Wolfe","doi":"10.1080/00026980.2024.2379961","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In what follows I examine Diderot's chemically influenced vital materialism. Once condemned as \"mechanistic,\" materialism has had something of a renaissance in recent decades as scholars have rediscovered a tradition of \"vital materialism\" which they have opposed to older, cruder forms of the idea, e.g. materialisms full of life, affect, chimiatry, and transformation. Sometimes these rediscoveries have attached themselves to a figure of the past, like Margaret Cavendish's metaphysics of active matter, or to a construct of the still-emerging future, like Karen Barad's quantum physics-nourished \"agential realism\" present in all of matter. Another question concerns the extent to which these revivals of \"vital\" or \"active-matter\" materialism should be traced back to older Renaissance naturalisms. In what follows, I return to Diderot and the question of his \"vital materialism.\" Diderot draws both on older traditions, approvingly citing Van Helmont and gesturing towards a new chemistry of living matter and also speaks the language of scientific revolution, writing that \"We are on the verge of a great revolution in the sciences.\" In earlier work I sought to connect this language of revolution in the sciences to the emergence of biology as a science. Here I focus on his chemically charged materialism.</p>","PeriodicalId":50963,"journal":{"name":"Ambix","volume":" ","pages":"342-359"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Diderot's Vital Materialism.\",\"authors\":\"Charles Wolfe\",\"doi\":\"10.1080/00026980.2024.2379961\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><p>In what follows I examine Diderot's chemically influenced vital materialism. Once condemned as \\\"mechanistic,\\\" materialism has had something of a renaissance in recent decades as scholars have rediscovered a tradition of \\\"vital materialism\\\" which they have opposed to older, cruder forms of the idea, e.g. materialisms full of life, affect, chimiatry, and transformation. Sometimes these rediscoveries have attached themselves to a figure of the past, like Margaret Cavendish's metaphysics of active matter, or to a construct of the still-emerging future, like Karen Barad's quantum physics-nourished \\\"agential realism\\\" present in all of matter. Another question concerns the extent to which these revivals of \\\"vital\\\" or \\\"active-matter\\\" materialism should be traced back to older Renaissance naturalisms. In what follows, I return to Diderot and the question of his \\\"vital materialism.\\\" Diderot draws both on older traditions, approvingly citing Van Helmont and gesturing towards a new chemistry of living matter and also speaks the language of scientific revolution, writing that \\\"We are on the verge of a great revolution in the sciences.\\\" In earlier work I sought to connect this language of revolution in the sciences to the emergence of biology as a science. Here I focus on his chemically charged materialism.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":50963,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Ambix\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"342-359\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.3000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-08-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Ambix\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"98\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1080/00026980.2024.2379961\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"哲学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"2024/7/26 0:00:00\",\"PubModel\":\"Epub\",\"JCR\":\"Q3\",\"JCRName\":\"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ambix","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00026980.2024.2379961","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/7/26 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
In what follows I examine Diderot's chemically influenced vital materialism. Once condemned as "mechanistic," materialism has had something of a renaissance in recent decades as scholars have rediscovered a tradition of "vital materialism" which they have opposed to older, cruder forms of the idea, e.g. materialisms full of life, affect, chimiatry, and transformation. Sometimes these rediscoveries have attached themselves to a figure of the past, like Margaret Cavendish's metaphysics of active matter, or to a construct of the still-emerging future, like Karen Barad's quantum physics-nourished "agential realism" present in all of matter. Another question concerns the extent to which these revivals of "vital" or "active-matter" materialism should be traced back to older Renaissance naturalisms. In what follows, I return to Diderot and the question of his "vital materialism." Diderot draws both on older traditions, approvingly citing Van Helmont and gesturing towards a new chemistry of living matter and also speaks the language of scientific revolution, writing that "We are on the verge of a great revolution in the sciences." In earlier work I sought to connect this language of revolution in the sciences to the emergence of biology as a science. Here I focus on his chemically charged materialism.
期刊介绍:
Ambix is an internationally recognised, peer-reviewed quarterly journal devoted to publishing high-quality, original research and book reviews in the intellectual, social and cultural history of alchemy and chemistry. It publishes studies, discussions, and primary sources relevant to the historical experience of all areas related to alchemy and chemistry covering all periods (ancient to modern) and geographical regions. Ambix publishes individual papers, focused thematic sections and larger special issues (either single or double and usually guest-edited). Topics covered by Ambix include, but are not limited to, interactions between alchemy and chemistry and other disciplines; chemical medicine and pharmacy; molecular sciences; practices allied to material, instrumental, institutional and visual cultures; environmental chemistry; the chemical industry; the appearance of alchemy and chemistry within popular culture; biographical and historiographical studies; and the study of issues related to gender, race, and colonial experience within the context of chemistry.