The System of Animate Nature, Vol. 1 of 2 (Classic Reprint): The Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of St. Andrews in the Years 1915 and ... in the Years 1915 and 1916 (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

Unlock the big questions of life through a clear, science-grounded view of nature.

The System of Animate Nature, Vol. 1 presents J. Arthur Thomson’s Gifford Lectures as a thoughtful blend of biology and philosophy. It argues that understanding living beings requires more than a mechanical description; the book surveys how life, mind, and purpose arise from the natural world and how science and religious insight can cohere.

Thomson frames biology as a discipline that must account for organisms as dynamic, historical beings—not just collections of matter. He explores what makes living things distinct, how behavior and adaptation emerge, and how mind-like processes relate to the body. The work also considers the place of science within broader human questions about meaning and value.

• Grounds biology in a broader view that goes beyond mere mechanism


• Addresses livingness, evolution, and the criteria for life


• Examines animal behavior, adaptation, and the roots of purposiveness


• Engages science with philosophy and religion to illuminate nature’s order

Ideal for readers curious about how biology connects with philosophy, history of science, and the search for meaning in nature.

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