In his two series of lectures, Driesch explains the philosophy of living nature. He provides a thorough account of the biological framework of an organism based on three central features: form, metabolism, and movement. In the second series, he conducts a philosophical enquiry, concluding that ‘it is from the study of the living individual only, that we have so far gained elemental principles in biology’.
Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch was born on 28 October 1867 in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. Known for his work as a biologist, philosopher, and theologian, Driesch worked to disprove the idea of organisms as machines. Appointed Professor of Natural Theology at the University of Aberdeen in 1907, he returned to Germany as Professor of Biology at the University of Heidelberg in 1909. In 1933, he was forcibly retired from his post at the University of Leipzig due to his opposition of Nazi ideology.
Receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen in 1906, he was also appointed President for the Society for Psychical Research in 1926, a position held by other Gifford Lecturers. Driesch was a master of several languages and is credited with laying the foundation for Gestalt psychology. His notable works include The Localization of Morphogenitic Process (1894), The History and Theory of Vitalism (1905), Theory of Order (1912), Logic as a Task (1913), Theory of Reality (1917), and a paper on memory and its relation to psychical research published in Proceedings 43 (1935).
