Abstract

The turn into the 20th century was characterized by a deep crisis that encompassed all the aspects of society, to culminate in the worst catastroph in the history of humankind. This context, obviously, could not fail to have an effect on scientific and philosophical ideas. This paper discusses the ideas of Jacques Maritain concerning the status of the Life Sciences in a time where they were at the center of significant controversy and emphasizes the influence of the German zoologist Hans Driesch on them.