La philosophie zoologique avant Darwin

This work traces the long‑running debate over how animals fit into the natural world, beginning with the myths and early philosophical notions of antiquity and moving through the systematic observations of Aristotle, the Roman scholars, and medieval physicians. It shows how each generation reshaped ideas about analogies, homologies, and the very definition of an “species,” while still wrestling with questions of continuity, perfection, and the possibility of change.

The narrative then follows the rising tide of modern thought—Linnaeus’s fixed nomenclature, Buffon’s challenge to rigid classifications, Lamarck’s early transformism, and the spirited exchanges between Cuvier and Geoffroy Saint‑Hilaire. By the close of the eighteenth century, the book highlights how these diverse perspectives set the stage for the revolutionary thinking that would soon follow, offering listeners a clear picture of the intellectual groundwork that preceded Darwin’s famous synthesis.