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Rignano took interest in biology and wrote a book that argued for the [[inheritance of acquired characteristics]].<ref>M. Lightfoot Eastwood. ''Reviewed Work: Eugenio Rignano Upon the Inheritance of Acquired Characters by C.H. Harvey''. International Journal of Ethics Vol. 23, No. 1 (Oct., 1912), pp. 117-118.</ref> He advanced a moderated [[Lamarckism|Lamarckian]] hypothesis of inheritance known as "centro-epigenesis".<ref>Horatio Hackett Newman. ''Readings in Evolution, Genetics, and Eugenics''. Univesity of Chicago Press, 1922. p. 335</ref><ref>Biological Memory by Eugenio Rignano; E. W. MacBride. The British Medical Journal. Vol. 2, No. 3476 (Aug. 20, 1927), p. 310</ref> His views were controversial and not accepted by most in the [[scientific community]]. His book ''The Nature of Life'' (1930) was described in a review as presenting a "militant, at times almost an evangelical exposition and defense of an energetic vitalism."<ref>R. B. Macleod. ''The Nature of Life by Eugenio Rignano''. American Journal of Psychology. Vol. 45, No. 1 (Jan., 1933), pp. 197-198.</ref> However, historian [[Peter J. Bowler]] has written that Rignano rejected both [[materialism]] and [[vitalism]] and adopted a similar position to what was known as [[emergent evolution]].<ref>Peter J. Bowler. ''The Eclipse of Darwinism: Anti-Darwinian Evolutionary Theories in the Decades Around 1900''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983. p. 84</ref>
Rignano took interest in biology and wrote a book that argued for the [[inheritance of acquired characteristics]].<ref>M. Lightfoot Eastwood. ''Reviewed Work: Eugenio Rignano Upon the Inheritance of Acquired Characters by C.H. Harvey''. International Journal of Ethics Vol. 23, No. 1 (Oct., 1912), pp. 117-118.</ref> He advanced a moderated [[Lamarckism|Lamarckian]] hypothesis of inheritance known as "centro-epigenesis".<ref>Horatio Hackett Newman. ''Readings in Evolution, Genetics, and Eugenics''. Univesity of Chicago Press, 1922. p. 335</ref><ref>Biological Memory by Eugenio Rignano; E. W. MacBride. The British Medical Journal. Vol. 2, No. 3476 (Aug. 20, 1927), p. 310</ref> His views were controversial and not accepted by most in the [[scientific community]]. His book ''The Nature of Life'' (1930) was described in a review as presenting a "militant, at times almost an evangelical exposition and defense of an energetic vitalism."<ref>R. B. Macleod. ''The Nature of Life by Eugenio Rignano''. American Journal of Psychology. Vol. 45, No. 1 (Jan., 1933), pp. 197-198.</ref> However, historian [[Peter J. Bowler]] has written that Rignano rejected both [[materialism]] and [[vitalism]] and adopted a similar position to what was known as [[emergent evolution]].<ref>Peter J. Bowler. ''The Eclipse of Darwinism: Anti-Darwinian Evolutionary Theories in the Decades Around 1900''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983. p. 84</ref>

Rignano's views on acquired characteristics and organic memory are discussed in detail by [[Laura Otis]] and [[Daniel Schacter]].<ref>[[Daniel Schacter]]. ''Forgotten Ideas, Neglected Pioneers: Richard Semon and the Story of Memory''. Psychology Press, 2001. pp. 116-117</ref>


== Works ==
== Works ==

Revision as of 22:30, 16 December 2014

Eugenio Rignano (31 May, 1870, Livorno – 9 February, 1930, Milan) was a Jewish Italian philosopher.[1]

Rignano edited the journal Scientia. His book The Psychology of Reasoning (1923) influenced the social anthropologist Edward Evans-Pritchard.[2] His book Man Not a Machine (1926) was replied to by Joseph Needham's Man A Machine (1927).[3]

Rignano took interest in biology and wrote a book that argued for the inheritance of acquired characteristics.[4] He advanced a moderated Lamarckian hypothesis of inheritance known as "centro-epigenesis".[5][6] His views were controversial and not accepted by most in the scientific community. His book The Nature of Life (1930) was described in a review as presenting a "militant, at times almost an evangelical exposition and defense of an energetic vitalism."[7] However, historian Peter J. Bowler has written that Rignano rejected both materialism and vitalism and adopted a similar position to what was known as emergent evolution.[8]

Rignano's views on acquired characteristics and organic memory are discussed in detail by Laura Otis and Daniel Schacter.[9]

Works

  • Upon the inheritance of acquired characters; a hypothesis of heredity, development, and assimilation. Translated by Basil C. H. Harvey, 1906.
  • Essays in scientific synthesis. Translated by W. J. Greenstreet, Chicago: The Open Court Pub. Co., 1918.
  • The psychology of reasoning. Translated by Winifred A. Holl, 1923. The International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific Method
  • The social significance of the inheritance tax. Translated by William John Schultz, New York: A.A. Knopf, 1924. Introduction by Edwin R. A. Seligman. English ed. (1925) as The social significance of death duties, with an introduction by Sir Josiah Stamp.
  • Man not a machine; a study of the finalistic aspects of life, London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1926. With a foreword by Professor Hans Driesch.
  • Biological memory. Translated by Ernest MacBride, 1926. The International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific Method.
  • The aim of human existence; being a system of morality based on the harmony of life. Translated from the French by Paul Crissman and Edward L. Schaub, Chicago: The Open Court Pub. Co., 1929. Reprinted from The Monist, January, 1929.
  • The nature of life. Translated by N. Mallinson, London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd.; New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1930

References

  1. ^ Everett V. Stonequist. Eugenio Rignano, 1870-1930. American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 36, No. 2 (Sep., 1930), pp. 282-284.
  2. ^ Mary Douglas, Edward Evans-Pritchard, 1980, pp.20–21
  3. ^ Colin Lyas, 'Rignano, Eugenio', in Stuart C. Brown et al, eds., Biographical dictionary of twentieth-century philosophy, 1996, p.668
  4. ^ M. Lightfoot Eastwood. Reviewed Work: Eugenio Rignano Upon the Inheritance of Acquired Characters by C.H. Harvey. International Journal of Ethics Vol. 23, No. 1 (Oct., 1912), pp. 117-118.
  5. ^ Horatio Hackett Newman. Readings in Evolution, Genetics, and Eugenics. Univesity of Chicago Press, 1922. p. 335
  6. ^ Biological Memory by Eugenio Rignano; E. W. MacBride. The British Medical Journal. Vol. 2, No. 3476 (Aug. 20, 1927), p. 310
  7. ^ R. B. Macleod. The Nature of Life by Eugenio Rignano. American Journal of Psychology. Vol. 45, No. 1 (Jan., 1933), pp. 197-198.
  8. ^ Peter J. Bowler. The Eclipse of Darwinism: Anti-Darwinian Evolutionary Theories in the Decades Around 1900. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983. p. 84
  9. ^ Daniel Schacter. Forgotten Ideas, Neglected Pioneers: Richard Semon and the Story of Memory. Psychology Press, 2001. pp. 116-117

External links

See also: Rignano

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