What is Biology? Human Nature, Interdisciplinarity and the Life Sciences, c. 1945–1956
Project by Dr Christian Reiß (Habilitation)
The occupation period (1945–1949) and the early Federal Republic were characterised and also profoundly shaped by a ‘Diskussionslust’ (Nina Verheyen), a desire for debate unprecedented in German culture of the 19th and 20th centuries. Against the backdrop of National Socialism, it is surprising to find biologists in particular engaged in these intellectual debates. After 1945, the question both within and outside Germany was how to rebuild German society and how to reinvent German culture in the wake of National Socialism – ‘re-education’, to use a contemporary term. Two central themes in this context were the status of (academic) knowledge and human nature as the foundation for the new democratic society.
This project draws on the following book series and journals to investigate the involvement of biologists and the engagement with biological topics in these discussions:
“Rowohlts Deutsche Enzyklopädie” (rde, 1956–c. 1986)
“Studium generale: Journal for the Unity of the Sciences in the Context of their Conceptual Frameworks and Research Methods” (1948–1971)
“Universitas: Journal of Science, Art and Culture” (1946–present)
“Merkur. Deutsche Zeitschrift für europäischen Denken” (1947–present)
Related projects
Forestry Research, Pest Control, Infrastructure Management and the Most Fundamental Science of All – the History of German Ecology, 1900–1963
