Intuitive understanding and the life sciences

Kant distinguished between a discursive and an intuitive understanding, and he denied humans the capacity for the latter. Since Kant held that organisms were not amenable to discursive understanding either, our knowledge about the living world could never mature into a genuine, explanatory science. It was limited to a form of analogical reasoning (teleology). Yet the German Idealists rejected Kant’s pessimism about the intuitive understanding, and the poet Goethe even claimed it as enabling his research on the metamorphosis of plants. Interestingly, molecular genetics is corroborating some of Goethe’s hypotheses (e.g. the serial homology between leaves and floral organs; phase change in foliage leaves). Were Goethe’s findings simply a happy accident, paired with confusion about the nature of his own understanding? Or did his aesthetic sensibilities allow him to develop a usually dormant cognitive skill? The topic of this project is an investigation into the nature and reality of the intuitive understanding and its implications for the life sciences.

An interdisciplinary approach to this topic is welcome, e.g. by combining philosophical analysis with historical research.

Candidates should apply for a PhD place in the normal way, stating:
o ‘Elphinstone PhD Scholarship’ in the Intended Source of Funding section
o The name of the lead supervisor in the Name of Proposed Supervisor section
o The title of the specific research project (subject to any agreed modifications in discussion with the lead supervisor) in the Outline Summary section